Description: This scene of Baldr's funeral pyre on board the ship Hringhorni is from
Louis Moe's Ragnarok: En
Billeddigtning. The body of Baldr's wife Nanna has been
placed on top of his corpse. The figure in the lower right hand
corner is likely the dwarf Litr. The dwarf is mentioned in the
Prose Edda when he annoys Þórr and the god
kicks him into the flames.
Source: Ragnarok: En Billeddigtning
Folio or Page: [15]
Medium: Not known
Date: 1929
Dimensions (mm): 180 x 130
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 2011.
Call number: NE962 N67M64
Rights:
This illustration from Ragnarok: En
Billeddigtning is in the public domain.
Research notes, early print reviews, etc.:
Some of the illustrations in Ragnarok: En
Billeddigtning have two digit numbers, along with Louis Moe's name
within the illustration. This illustration has Moe's name but does not have a
number.
Bibliography:
Primary Sources
Moe,
Louis Maria Niels Peder
Halling. Ragnarok: En
Billeddigtning. København, A.F.
Høst, 1929.
Secondary Sources
Cleasby, Richard
and
Vigfússon
Guðbrandur
. An Icelandic-English Dictionary.
Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1957.
Simek,
Rudolf.
Angela
Hall
. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. W
Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer,
2007.
Hringhorni (non.)
According to Snorri, Hringhorni is the name of the ship that held
Baldr's funeral pyre.
Gods and Goddesses
Baldr (non.)
Balder (en.)
The god who was killed by his brother Höðr.
Nanna (non.)
The wife of Baldr and the mother of Forseti. According to Snorri,
Nanna dies of grief and is burned along with Baldr on his funeral
pyre.
Þórr (non.)
Thor (en.)
In the Prose Edda, Þórr is the son of Óðinn
and the giantess Jörð. However, in Heimskringla, he is a mortal.
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.
Mythological Events
Ragnarök (non.)
Ragnarok (en.)
The final great battle between the gods and the giants.
Source Materials:
Prose Edda (is.)
Snorri Sturluson's thirteenth-century prose work concerning Old Norse
mythology and poetics.
Ragnarok: En Billeddigtning (da.)
Louis Moe's illustrated retelling of the Battle of Ragnarok and the
events that preceded it.
Source Persons
Moe,
Louis (no.)
b. 1857
d. 1945
Nationality: Norwegian/Danish.
Occupation: illustrator
Residence: Copenhagen
Moe was an illustrator who was born in Norway but became a Danish
citizen in 1919.
