Description: This illustration is based on a rune stone which was
originally part of the Hunnestad Monument near Marsvinsholm,
Sweden and now is in Lund at the Kulturen museum. It is
generally accepted as depicting the giantess Hyrrokkin riding
to Baldr's funeral on a wolf with snakes for reins. However,
Bartholin and others associated the figure with "Gestom Blindi,"
i.e. the blind guest, in the second last riddle in The Saga of Hervör and Heiðrik. The riddle
poses the question What two have three eyes, ten legs, and
one tail? The answer is: the one-eyed god, Óðinn, riding his
eight-legged horse. However, the illustration does not adhere to
the details of the riddle because it depicts Sleipnir as being
four-legged. Blindum Gesti is the pseudonym that Óðinn uses in
the saga.
Source: Antiquitatum danicarum de causis contemptae a
Danis adhuc gentilibus mortis libri tres
Folio or Page: 370
Medium: Not known
Date: 1689
Dimensions (mm): 50 x 65
Provenance:
This copy of Antiquitatum danicarum de
causis contemptae a Danis adhuc gentilibus mortis libri
tres is in the Rare Book collection of Det Kongelige
Bibliotek.
P.A. Baer photographed this illustration Antiquitatum danicarum de causis contemptae a
Danis adhuc gentilibus mortis libri tres with the
permission of Det Kongelige Bibliotek.
Rights:
Illustrations from the 1689 edition of Antiquitatum danicarum de causis contemptae a Danis adhuc gentilibus
mortis libri tres are in the public domain.
Research notes, early print reviews, etc.:
P. A. Baer notes the exemplar for Bartholin's lithograph
was Jon Skonvig’s rendering of the giantess Hyrrokkin riding a wolf from a rune
stone that was originally part of the Hunnestad Monument in Sweden. Skonvig was
commissioned by Ole Worm circa 1626 - 1629 to draw the Hunnestad Monument and
Worm published Skonvig’s drawing in 1643 in Monumenta
Danica (187). Skonvig's illustration is also available in Skonvig Og De Andre Runetegnere: Et Bidrag Til Runologiens
Historie I Danmark Og Norge. (Molke 2:127). Here is a picture of the rune stone that Baer took at the Kulturen museum in
Lund, Sweden in the summer of 2010.
Bibliography:
Primary Sources
Bartholin,
Thomas. Antiquitatum danicarum de causis contemptae a Danis adhuc gentilibus
mortis libri tres [Three books of Danish antiquities concerning the
causes of the Danes’ contempt of death while they were still
pagan]. Hafniae:
Bockenhoffer, 1689.
Research Resources
Baer,
Patricia
Ann. An Old
Norse Image Hoard: From the Analog Past to the Digital Present.
Diss.
U. of Victoria, 2013.
Web.
Cleasby, Richard
and
Vigfússon
Guðbrandur
. An Icelandic-English Dictionary.
Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1957.
Moltke,
Erik. Jon
Skonvig Og De Andre Runetegnere: Et Bidrag Til Runologiens Historie I
Danmark Og Norge. Vol. 2.
Kønhavn: Munksgaard,
1956.
Simek,
Rudolf.
Angela
Hall
. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. W
Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer,
2007.
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.)
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.
Myths
Death of Baldr Myth
A myth concerning an accidental fratricide. It sometimes includes Loki
as an instigator who dupes Baldr's brother, Höðr, into the act and
actually guides his hand. In the Prose Edda,
Snorri says that Höðr was blind.
Antiquitatum danicarum de causis
contemptae a Danis adhuc gentilibus mortis libri tres (la.)
This book contains an illustration of “The Deluding of Gylfi” that is
a mirror image of Verelius’ copperplate rendering of the illustration in
U. It lacks the text within the illustration but does have Verelius’
asterisk indicating that the illustration should be inserted facing page
43.
Source Persons
Bartholin,
Thomas (da.)
b. 20th October 1616
d. 4th December 1680
Nationality: Danish
Occupation: physician, mathematician, theologian
Bartholin was a physician, mathematician, theologian, and antiquarian
scholar. He was the brother-in-law of Ole Worm, a.k.a. Olaus Wormianus,
who was one of the founders of the study of Nordic antiquity.
