Description: This illustration is from a retelling of Old Norse mythology,
Asgard Stories: Tales from
Norse Mythology (1901), by Mary H.
Foster and Mabel H.
Cummings, and comes from the
chapter "Freyja's Necklace" which retells the Brísingamen myth . The
illustration is signed with the initials H.L.M., but these are
not necessarily the initials of the illustrator. See Research
Notes below for information concerning the original source and
the original illustrator.
Source: Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse
Mythology
Folio or Page: 27
Medium: not known
Date: 1901
Dimensions (mm): 90 x 140
Provenance:
This illustration is from Asgard Stories:
Tales from Norse Mythology from the collection of P. A.
Baer.
Rights:
This illustration from Asgard Stories: Tales
from Norse Mythology is in the public domain.
Research notes, early print reviews, etc.:
Sage Dunn-Krahn notes in his MyNDIR-IDG research spreadsheet "Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology and Original
Illustrations" that this illustration is similar to "Freyja" by Ludwig Pietsch
in the 1882 edition of Nordisch-germanische Götter und Helden
(279).
Trish Baer notes that this illustration is a reverse image of Louis
Huard's illustration in Annie Keary's The Heroes of Asgard:
Tales from Scandinavian Mythology published in 1870. See Related
Item below for Huard's illustration in the edition published in 1908.
Bibliography:
Editions
Foster,
Mary, and
Mabel
Cummings. Asgard
Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology. New
York: Silver, Burdett and Co,
1901.
Dunn-Krahn,
Sage (en.)
b. 13th July 1999
Occupation: Research Assistant
Artifacts
Brísingamen (non.)
The name of the necklace that the dwarves gave to Freyja when she
visited their workshop in a cave. The story is only occurs in Sörla þáttr in the 14-century Flateyjarbók manuscript.
Artist Not Known
Artist Not
Known
Artist not known for this illustration in Asgard
Stories
Gods and Goddesses
Freyja (non.)
A fertility goddess and one of the Vanir. She is the daughter of
Njörðr and the twin sister of Freyr.
Myths
Freyja and the
Brísingamen Necklace (en.)This myth is not in the Eddas but is
extant in Sörla þáttr, where the necklace is not named but was made by
the dwarves. Details concerning a curse were added in the Victorian
retellings of the myth.
Nouns
Edwardian (en.)The
Edwardian era began with the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910
(January 22, 1901 - 28 July, 1914). However, the era's end date is
sometimes extended to the beginning of World War 1 (28 July
1914).
dvergar (non.)
dwarves (en.)
Dwarves often appear in Norse mythology as skillful smiths and wise
beings. The objects that they made were often endowed with magical
aspects. The dwarves made the treasures of the gods, e.g., Þórr's
hammer.
Source Materials:
Asgard Stories (en.)
Children's book by Mabel Cummings and Mary Foster published in
1901.
Sörla þáttr (non.)
Heðins saga ok HögnaSörla þáttr is a
short post-pagan tale that was commited to velum in 14 century Iceland.
It is a continuation of Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en
mestaextant in the Flateyjarbók manuscript, and is also
known as Heðins saga ok Högna
Source Persons
Cummings,
Mabel (en.)
Nationality: English
b. 28 Mar 1872
d. 24 August 1962
Occupation: Childrens book writer.
Nationality: American
Mabel Homer Cummings lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, as well as
Boston and Cambridge. She was born on the 28th of March, 1872 in
Cambridge, and died on the 24th of August, 1962 in Brookline. She lived
with her sister, the horticulturalist and ornithologist Emma G.
Cummings. She was a school teacher and the headmistress and co-founder
of the high school Brimmer and May, where Cummings Hall is named after
her. She graduated from Smith College in 1895. She was almost certainly
a founding member of the College Club of Boston, the first women’s
college club in the United States, and bought the building at 76
Marlborough in 1893.
Foster,
Mary (en.)
Nationality: American
Occupation: Childrens book writer and schoolteacher.
b. 19 Dec 1848
d. 27 Oct 1914
