Asatru Folk Assembly - Rígsþula, a reading

00:00:00.000 RIGSTULA

00:00:21.000 RIGSTULA

00:00:22.000 RIGSTULA

00:00:24.000 RIGSTULA is found in neither of the principal codices.

00:00:27.500 The only manuscript containing it is the so-called Codex Warmonius, a manuscript of Snorri's

00:00:34.440 Prosero.

00:00:35.900 The poem appears on the last sheet of the manuscript, which, unluckily, is incomplete,

00:00:41.260 and thus the end of the poem is lacking.

00:00:43.980 In the Codex Warmonius itself, the poem has no title, but a fragmentary parchment included

00:00:50.540 with it calls the poem Rigsdudla.

00:00:53.140 Some late paper manuscripts give it the title Rigsmore.

00:00:57.500 The Rigsfield is essentially unlike anything else which editors have agreed to include in the so-called Edda.

00:01:04.020 It is a definitively cultural poem, explaining on a mythological basis the origin of the different castes of early society,

00:01:11.700 the thralls, the peasants, and the warriors.

00:01:14.820 From the warriors finally springs one who is destined to become a king.

00:01:19.160 And thus, the whole poem is a song in praise of the royal estates.

00:01:22.920 This fact in itself would suffice to indicate that the Rigsville was not composed in Iceland,

00:01:28.700 where for centuries kings were regarded with profound disapproval.

00:01:33.220 Not only does the Rigsville appraise royalty, but it has many of the earmarks of a poem composed in praise of a particular king.

00:01:40.800 The manuscript breaks off at a most exasperating point,

00:01:43.840 just as the connection between the mythological young con,

00:01:46.880 and the monarch in question is about to be established.

00:01:56.120 Owing to the character of the Norse settlements in Iceland, Ireland, and the Western Islands generally,

00:02:01.600 search for a specific king leads back to either Norway or Denmark.

00:02:06.140 Despite the arguments advanced by Edzardi, Vigfusson, Powell, and others,

00:02:11.640 it seems most improbable that such a poem would have been produced elsewhere than on the continent.

00:02:15.960 the region in which Scandinavian royalty most flourished.

00:02:20.860 Fenner Johnson's claim for Norway with Harold the Fairhaired as the probable king in question

00:02:26.300 is much less impressive than Malk's ingenious demonstration

00:02:31.200 that the poem was in all probability composed in Denmark

00:02:34.080 in honor of either Gorm the Old or Harold Bluetooth.

00:02:39.300 His proof is based chiefly on the evidence provided by Stenza 49

00:02:43.040 and is summarized in the note to that stanza.

00:02:49.380 Note 49

00:02:50.700 Don and Dom

00:02:53.220 These names are largely responsible for the theory that Rigsthula was composed in Denmark.

00:02:59.680 According to the Latin epitome of the Skjoldesunga by Angermere Johnson,

00:03:06.980 Rig Rigas was a man not the least among the great ones of his time.

00:03:11.760 He married the daughter of a certain Domp, Lord of Dompstead, whose name was Donna, and later, having won the royal title for his province, left as his heir, his son, by Donna, called Don or Donum, all of whose subjects were called Danes.

00:03:30.800 This may or may not be conclusive, and it is a great pity that the manuscript breaks off abruptly at this stanza.

00:03:38.100 The poet, however, was certainly not a Dane, but probably a wandering Norse singer, who

00:03:46.820 may or have had a dozen homes, and who clearly had spent much time in some part of the western

00:03:53.560 island or world chiefly inhabited by Celts. The extent of Celtic influence on the Etic

00:03:59.000 poems, in general, is a matter of sharp dispute. Powell, for example, claims almost all the

00:04:05.260 poem for the Western Isles, and attributes nearly all their good qualities to Celtic

00:04:09.720 influence. Without here attempting to enter into the details of the argument, it may be

00:04:15.120 said that the weight of authoritative opinion, which clearly recognizes the marks of Celtic

00:04:20.400 influence in the poems, is against this view. Contact between the roving Norsemen of Norway

00:04:26.320 and Iceland and the Celts of Ireland and the Western Isles, particularly the Orkneys, was

00:04:32.720 so extensive as to make the presumption of an actual Celtic home for the poems seem quite

00:04:39.060 unnecessary. In the case of the Rigsula, the poem unquestionably had not only picked up bits of the

00:04:47.040 Celtic speech, the name Rigg itself is almost certainly of Celtic origin, and there are various

00:04:51.780 other Celtic words employed, but also had caught something of the Celtic literary spirit. This

00:04:58.180 explains the cultural nature of the poem, quite foreign to Norse poetry in general.

00:05:02.720 On the other hand, the style as a whole was vigorously Norse, and thus the explanation

00:05:08.080 that the poem was composed by an itinerant Norse poet who had lived for some time in

00:05:14.280 the Celtic Isles and who was on a visit to the court of the Danish king fits the ascertainable

00:05:19.980 facts exceedingly well.

00:05:22.540 As Christianity was introduced into Denmark around 960, the Rixs was not likely to compose

00:05:28.780 much after that date, and probably belongs to the first half of the 10th century.

00:05:34.400 Gorm the Old died about the year 935, and was succeeded by Harold Bluetooth, who died

00:05:39.420 about 985.

00:05:42.540 The 14th or late 13th century annotator identifies Rigg with Heimdall, but there is nothing in

00:05:48.480 the poem itself, and very little anywhere else to warrant this, and it seems likely

00:05:53.580 that the poet had Uldan and not Heimdall in mind,

00:05:57.540 his purpose being to trace the origin of the royal state to the chief of the gods.

00:06:02.140 The evidence bearing on this identification is briefly summed up

00:06:05.660 in the note on introductory prose passage,

00:06:08.260 but the question involves complex and baffling problems of mythology,

00:06:13.320 and from very early times the status of Heimdall was unquestionably confusing to the Norse mind.

00:06:18.520 Note, it would be interesting to know how much the annotator meant by the phrase old stories.

00:06:26.420 Was he familiar with the tradition in forms other than that of the poem?

00:06:31.340 And if so, his introductory note was scanty, for outside of identifying Rigg as Heimdall,

00:06:37.960 he provides no information not found in the poem.

00:06:41.700 Probably he meant simply to refer to the poem itself as a relic of antiquity,

00:06:45.800 and the identification of Rigg as Heimdall may well have been attempted to construct a criticism of his own.

00:06:52.920 The note was presumably written somewhere about 1300 or even later,

00:06:58.360 and there is no reason for crediting the annotator with any considerable knowledge of mythology.

00:07:03.800 There is little to favor the identification of Rigg with Heimdall, the Watchmen of the Gods,

00:07:09.780 beyond a few rather vague passages in the other poems.

00:07:14.100 Thus, in Veluspa, stanza 1, the vulva asks, hearing from Heimdall's sons, both high and low.

00:07:23.100 In Grimnismor, stanza 13, there is a very doubtful line, which may mean that Heimdall, or men hold sway, it is said.

00:07:36.000 and in the short Vluspa, Hindul Yoth, stanza 40, he is called the Kinsman of Men.

00:07:47.260 On the other hand, everything in the Rigstura, including the phrase the aged and wise in stanza 1

00:07:53.460 and the references to runes in stanzas 36, 44, and 46, fits Oden exceedingly well.

00:08:01.120 It seems probable that the annotator was wrong, and that Ríg is Otham, and not Hamdorf.

00:08:08.220 Ríg almost certainly based on the old Irish word for king.

00:08:13.260 Ríg or Ríg.

00:08:17.400 Ríg Sturla.

00:08:20.620 Men say there went by the ways so green, of all the gods, the aged and wise.

00:08:26.960 Mighty and strong did Ríg go striding.

00:08:29.520 forward he went on the midmost way he came to a dwelling a door on its posts in did he fare on the floor was a fire to holy ones by the hearth there sat i and edda in olden dress

00:08:45.520 rig knew well wise words to speak soon in the midst of the room he sat and on either side the others were a loaf of bread did edel bring heavy and thick and swollen with husks

00:09:00.520 Forth on the table she set the fair, and brought for the meal in a bowl there was.

00:09:06.540 Calf's flesh boiled was the best of the dainties.

00:09:10.440 Rig knew well wise words to speak, thence did he rise, made ready to sleep.

00:09:17.020 Soon in the bed himself did he lay, and on other side the others were.

00:09:23.360 Thus was he there for three long nights, then forward he went on the midmost way.

00:09:28.620 and so nine months were soon passed by.

00:09:32.960 A son bore Edda with water they sprinkled him,

00:09:36.140 with his cloth his hair so black they covered.

00:09:39.620 Thrail they named him.

00:09:42.660 His skin was wrinkled and rough on his hands, 0.98

00:09:45.640 knotted his knuckles, thick his fingers and ugly his face, 0.95

00:09:50.040 twisted his back and big his heels.

00:09:52.420 He grew to grow and to gain in strength, soon of his might, good use he made, with basti-bound 1.00

00:10:02.760 and burdens carried, home-born faggots the day whole long. 1.00

00:10:09.260 One came to their home, crooked her legs, stained with her feet and sunburned her arms, 1.00

00:10:16.160 Flat was her nose, her name was Tyr.

00:10:21.320 Soon in the midst of the room she sat, By her side there sat the son of the house.

00:10:28.780 They whispered both, and the bed made ready, Threl and Tyr till the day was through.

00:10:36.920 Children they had, they lived and were happy, Fjostnir and Kluur they were called, methinks,

00:10:43.480 Krem and Klegi, Kepsir, Furnir, Drom, Degraldi, Drog, Delegaldi, Lut and Hosvir, the house they cared for,

00:10:54.200 ground they dunged and swine they guarded, goats they tended and turf they dug. 0.85

00:11:01.080 Daughters Hadei, Drumba and Kumba, Okvin Kalfa, Arin Nefla, Issa and Ambat, Aikensyatsa, Totrugipya, and Tronubena, and it had risen the race of thralls.

00:11:21.420 Forward went Rigg, his road was straight, To the hall he came, and a door there hung.

00:11:31.460 In Diddy Fair on the floor was a fire, Afi and Amma owned the house.

00:11:38.700 There stepped the twain, and worked at their tasks, The man-hued wood for the weaver's

00:11:45.060 his beard was trimmed or his brow a curl his clothes fitted close in the corner of a chest 0.88

00:11:53.400 the woman sat and the distaff wielded at the weaving with arms outstretched she worked on

00:12:03.480 her head was a band on her breast a smock on her shoulders a kerchief with clasps there were

00:12:11.100 Rigg knew well, wise words to speak. Soon in the midst of the room he sat. On either

00:12:19.600 side the others were.

00:12:23.600 Then Amma took.

00:12:26.340 The vessel's full with the fair she sat. Calf's flesh boiled was the best of the dainties.

00:12:34.980 Craig knew well wise words to say, he rose from the board, made ready to sleep.

00:12:41.920 Soon in the bed himself did he lay, and on either side the others were.

00:12:48.820 Thus was he there for three nights long, then forward he went on the midmost way, and so

00:12:55.740 nine months were soon passed by.

00:12:59.100 A sun-bore armor. With water they sprinkled him.

00:13:02.880 Carl they named him. In a cloth she wrapped him.

00:13:06.440 He was a ruddy of face and flashing his eyes.

00:13:10.520 He began to grow and to gain in strength.

00:13:13.940 Oxen he rolled and plows made ready.

00:13:17.320 Houses he built and barns he fashioned.

00:13:20.000 Carts he made and the plow he managed.

00:13:23.640 Home did they bring the bride for Carl.

00:13:26.540 In goatskins, cloud, and keys she bore, Snor was her name, beneath the veil she sat.

00:13:35.980 A home they made ready, and rings exchanged, A bed they decked, and a dwelling made.

00:13:42.160 Sons they had, they lived and were happy, Hal and Dring, Holt, Thane, and Smith, Braith

00:13:48.820 and bondi, bundiskegi, bui and bodi, blatskeg and seg. Daughters they had, and their names

00:13:58.700 all here, snot and bruth, svani, svarli, sprati, fliot, sprund, and vith, fama, ristil, and

00:14:09.220 thence has risen the yeoman's race.

00:14:12.500 Thence went Rig, his road was straight, a hall he saw, the doors faced south. 0.97

00:14:21.940 The portal stood wide, on the post was a ring, then in he fared, the floor was strewn.

00:14:29.740 Within two gazed in each other's eyes, Fadir and Mudir, and played with their fingers.

00:14:37.680 There sat the house-lord, worn strings for the bow,

00:14:41.440 Shafts he fashioned, and bows he shaped.

00:14:45.640 The lady sat on her arms, she looked, 0.94

00:14:48.820 Shmoothed the cloth and fitted the sleeves. 1.00

00:14:52.440 Gay was her cap, on her breasts were her clasps, 1.00

00:14:56.060 Broad was her train, of blue was her gown. 0.98

00:15:00.000 Her brows were bright, her breast was shining,

00:15:03.800 white of her neck than new fallen snow.

00:15:08.400 Rigg knew well was words to speak, soon in the midst of the room he sat and on either

00:15:15.700 side the others were.

00:15:19.260 Then mother brought a broidered cloth of linen bright and the board she covered, and then

00:15:26.380 she took the loaf so thin and laid them white from the wheat on the cloth.

00:15:33.620 Then forth she brought the vessels full, with silver covered and set before them, meat

00:15:41.440 all browned and well-cooked birds, in the pitcher was wine, of plate were the cups,

00:15:48.780 so drank they and talked till the day was gone.

00:15:55.300 Rig knew well wise words to speak, soon did he rise, made ready to sleep, so in the bed

00:16:03.060 himself did he lay, and on either side the others were. Thus was he there for three long

00:16:12.500 nights, then forward he went on the midmost way, and so nine months were soon passed by.

00:16:21.140 A son had mother, with silk they wrapped him, with water they sprinkled him, yarl he was,

00:16:28.300 Blonde was his hair, and bright was his cheeks. Grim as snakes was his glowing eyes.

00:16:35.660 To grow in the house did Jarl begin. Shields he brandished, and bow-strings wound.

00:16:42.620 Bows he shot, and shafts he fashioned. Arrows loosened, and lances weirded.

00:16:50.860 Horses he rode, and hounds unleashed. Swords he handled, and sounds he swam.

00:16:56.140 Straight from the grove came striding Rig, Rig came striding, and runes he taught them.

00:17:05.200 By his name he called him, his son he claimed him, And bade him bold, his heritage wide,

00:17:11.440 his heritage wide, the ancient homes.

00:17:16.760 Forward he rode, through the forest dark, O'er the cross the crags, till the hall he

00:17:22.580 found. His spear he shook, his shield he brandished, his horse he spurred, and his sword he hewed.

00:17:31.260 Wars he raised, and reddened the fields, warriors slew he, and land he won. Eighteen halls ere

00:17:40.100 long did he hold, wealth did he get, and gave to all. Stones and jewels, and slim-flanked

00:17:47.820 steeds. Rings he offered, and arm-rings shared. His messengers went by the ways so wet, and

00:17:56.720 came to the hall where Hersir dwelt. His daughter was fair and slender-fingered, Erna the wise

00:18:03.680 the maiden was. Her hand they sought, and whom they brought her, wedded to Jarl the

00:18:11.400 veil she wore. Together they dwelt, their joy was great. Children they had, and happy

00:18:17.560 they lived. Brr was the oldest, and Barn the next, Joth and Arthur, Arthi, Mog, Nith and

00:18:26.340 Svein. Soon they began, Son and Nithjung, to play and swim, Kond was one, the youngest

00:18:34.080 Kond. Soon grew up the sons of Jarl, beasts they tamed and bucklers rounded, shafts they

00:18:42.340 fashion, and spears they shook. But Khan the young learned runes to use, runes everlasting, 0.53

00:18:49.520 the runes of life. Soon could he weld a warrior's shield, dull the sword blade, and still the

00:18:56.120 seas. Bird chatter learned he, flames could he lessen, minds could he quiet, and sorrows

00:19:04.280 calm, the might and strength of twice-four men.

00:19:10.060 With Rig Jarl soon, the runes he shared, the more crafty he was, and greater his wisdom.

00:19:18.220 The right he sought, and soon he won it, Rig to be called, and runes to know.

00:19:24.780 Yung Khan rode forth through forest and grove, shafts he let loose, and birds he lured. 0.81

00:19:32.120 There spake a crow on a bough that sat, Why lurest thou con, the birds to come? 0.83

00:19:40.300 Twere better forth on thy steed to fare, And the host to slay.

00:19:46.860 The hollers of Don and Donp are noble, Greater their wealth than thou best gained.

00:19:54.620 Here are they at guiding the kill, trying of weapons and giving of wounds.

Asatru Folk Assembly - January 01, 2024

Rígsþula, a reading

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