MyNDIR

An “esoteric detail of interest in Nks 1867 4to f. 98r is the pair of orbs in “The Deluding of Gylfi” scene from The Prose Edda when King Gylfi in disguise confronts three figures seated on a triple throne that represent hypostatic figures of Óðinn. I have previously discussed this illustration in regard to DG 11 f. 26v and Jakob Sigurðsson’s other renderings along with the possibility that the three figures can be seen as a paganised version of the Holy Trinity. The three figures of Óðinn are empty handed in SÁM 66 4to f. 78r but this is not the case in NKS 1867 4to f. 98r, where the topmost figure is holding an orb representing the world, a symbol that has long been associated with pagan kingship. The middle figure is also holding an orb but it is surmounted with a hammerhead that imitates the globus cruciger, which in Christian iconography is “a spherical globe surmounted by a cross to symbolize Christian dominion over the cosmos” (Strayer 564). A case might also be made that the figures in N represent three levels of authority, with the god Óðinn in the first and highest position, a king second, and a priest third. If this is the case then it is appropriate that the king figure in the middle is holding the orb with a pagan religious symbol on top. Christian kings were often portrayed holding the globus cruciger in the middle ages to signify their duty to spread Christianity throughout the world. I believe that Jakob was inspired by the tradition of the globus cruciger to create an anachronism in regard to Norse paganism.(Baer An Old Norse Image Hoard 237-38.)

The hammerhead positioned on top of the orb in N must represent Þórr’s hammer Mjöllnir. However, the illustration depicting the head of Þórr’s hammer positioned on top of the orb is unique to this manuscript. It is true that Þórr’s hammer was equated with the Christian cross during the Conversion period (circa 1000 C.E.) and the globus cruciger analogy works to a point. In The Prose Edda, Þórr mainly used his hammer to kill giants, who were not only the mortal enemies of both gods and men but threatened the very cosmos, and therefore his hammer might be considered as an object that represented not only survival in a physical sense but also salvation in a religious sense. In Norse beliefs reflected in eddic poetry and sagas, Þórr’s hammer was depicted as a sacred object that was used to hallow ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. Moreover, when the world is reborn after the battle of Ragnarök, Þórr’s hammer in the possession of his sons represents continuity from “the old mythological order to the new one” (Lindow 221). Thus in pagan beliefs of the Viking era, the battle of Ragnarök was part of a cycle and did not represent the total destruction of the gods and their world. (Baer An Old Norse Image Hoard 238.)