Grottasöngr
Encyclopedia
Grottasöngr or the Song of Grótti is an Old Norse poem
, sometimes counted among the poems of the Poetic Edda
as it appears in manuscripts that are later than the Codex Regius
. The tradition is also preserved in one of the manuscripts of Snorri Sturluson
's Prose Edda
along with some explanation of its context.
The myth has also survived independently as modified Scandinavia
n fairy tale
s, one of them called Why the Sea Is Salt
, collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen
and Jørgen Moe
in their Norske Folkeeventyr
. Moreover, Gróttasöngr had great social and political impact in Sweden during the 20th century as it was modernized in the form of Den nya Grottesången by Viktor Rydberg
.
, Gróttasöngr is included in many later editions of the Poetic Edda
. Gróttasöngr is the work song of two young slave girls bought in Sweden by the Danish King Frodi. The girls are brought to a magic grind stone to grind out wealth for the king and sing for his household.
The girls ask for rest from the grinding but are told to continue. Undaunted in their benevolence, the girls proceed to grind and sing, wishing wealth and happiness for the King. The King, however, is still not pleased and continues to order the girls to grind without interruption.
King Frodi is ignorant of their lineage and the girls reveal that they are descended from mountain giants. The girls recount their past deeds, including moving a flat-topped mountain and revealing that they had actually created the grinding stone they are now chained to. They reveal that they had advanced against an army in Sweden and fought "bearlike warriors", had "broken shields", supported troops and overthrew a prince while supporting another. The girls recount that they had become well known warriors.
The girls then reflect that they had now become cold and dirty slaves, relentlessly worked, and living a life of dull grinding. The girls sing that they are tired and call to King Frodi to wake up so that he may hear them. The two state that an army is approaching, that Frodi will lose the wealth they've ground for him, that he will also lose the magic grindstone, that the army will burn the settlement and overthrow Frodi's throne in Lejre
. The girls are grinding an army into existence via the magic stone. They then comment that they are "not yet warmed by the blood of slaughtered men".
The girls continue to grind even harder and the shafts of the mill-frame snap. The two then sing a prophecy of vengeance mentioning Hrólfr Kraki, Yrsa
, Fróði
and Halfdan
:
Now filled with a great rage, the girls intensely grind until finally the grinding mechanism has collapsed and the magical stone has split into two. With the impeding army soon to arrive, one of the two girls finishes the song with:
that Skjöldr
ruled the country that we today call Denmark. Skjöldr had a son named Friðleifr who succeeded him on the throne. Friðleifr had a son who was named Fróði
who became king after Friðleifr, and this was at the time when Caesar Augustus proclaimed peace on earth and the Christian figure Jesus was supposedly born. The same peace ruled in Scandinavia, but there it was called Fróði's peace. The North was so peaceful that no man hurt another, even if he met his father's or his brother's killer, free or tied. No man was a robber and a golden ring could rest on the moor of Jelling
for a long time.
King Fróði visited Sweden and its king Fjölnir
, and from Fjölnir he bought two female slave giantesses named Fenja and Menja who were big and strong. In Denmark, there were two big mill stones which were so big that no man was strong enough to use them. However, the man who ground them could ask them to produce anything he wished. This mill was called "Grótti" and it had been given to Fróði by Hengikjopt.
Fróði had Fenja and Menja tied to the mill and asked them to grind gold, peace and happiness for himself. Then he gave them neither rest nor sleep longer than the time of a song or the silence of the cuckoo. In revenge Fenja and Menja started to sing a song named the "song of Grótti" (the poem itself) and before they ended it, they had produced a host led by a sea-king
named Mysing. Mysing attacked Fróði during the night and killed him, and left with rich booty. This was the end of the Fróði peace.
Mysing brought Grótti as well as Fenja and Menja and asked them to grind salt. At midnight, they asked Mysing if he did not have salt enough, but he asked them to grind more. They only ground for a short while before the ships sank. A giant whirlpool (maelstrom from Mal -mill and ström -stream) was formed as the sea started rushing through the centre of the mill stone. Then the sea begun turning salt.
and Mandø
, off the west coast of Denmark, are named after Fenja and Menja.
Old Norse poetry
Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century...
, sometimes counted among the poems of the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
as it appears in manuscripts that are later than the Codex Regius
Codex Regius
Cōdex Rēgius is an Icelandic manuscript in which the Poetic Edda is preserved. It is made up of 45 vellum leaves, thought to have been written in the 1270s. It originally contained a further 8 leaves, which are now missing...
. The tradition is also preserved in one of the manuscripts of Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
's Prose Edda
Prose Edda
The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Nordic mythology...
along with some explanation of its context.
The myth has also survived independently as modified Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
s, one of them called Why the Sea Is Salt
Why the Sea Is Salt
Why the Sea Is Salt is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their Norske Folkeeventyr. Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book ....
, collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore...
and Jørgen Moe
Jørgen Moe
right|thumb|Norske Folkeeventyr Asbjørnsen and Moe Jørgen Engebretsen Moe was a Norwegian bishop and author...
in their Norske Folkeeventyr
Norske Folkeeventyr
Norwegian Folktales is a collection of Norwegian folktales and legends by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is also known as Asbjørnsen and Moe, after the collectors.-Asbjørnsen and Moe:...
. Moreover, Gróttasöngr had great social and political impact in Sweden during the 20th century as it was modernized in the form of Den nya Grottesången by Viktor Rydberg
Viktor Rydberg
Abraham Viktor Rydberg was a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy, 1877-1895...
.
Poetic Edda
Though not originally included in the Codex RegiusCodex Regius
Cōdex Rēgius is an Icelandic manuscript in which the Poetic Edda is preserved. It is made up of 45 vellum leaves, thought to have been written in the 1270s. It originally contained a further 8 leaves, which are now missing...
, Gróttasöngr is included in many later editions of the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
. Gróttasöngr is the work song of two young slave girls bought in Sweden by the Danish King Frodi. The girls are brought to a magic grind stone to grind out wealth for the king and sing for his household.
The girls ask for rest from the grinding but are told to continue. Undaunted in their benevolence, the girls proceed to grind and sing, wishing wealth and happiness for the King. The King, however, is still not pleased and continues to order the girls to grind without interruption.
King Frodi is ignorant of their lineage and the girls reveal that they are descended from mountain giants. The girls recount their past deeds, including moving a flat-topped mountain and revealing that they had actually created the grinding stone they are now chained to. They reveal that they had advanced against an army in Sweden and fought "bearlike warriors", had "broken shields", supported troops and overthrew a prince while supporting another. The girls recount that they had become well known warriors.
Lejre
Lejre is a town with a population of 2,343 and a municipality on the island of Zealand in east Denmark. It belongs to Region Sjælland. The town's Old Norse name was Hleiðra. The municipality has an area of 240 km² and a total population of ca. 26,603 . Its mayor is Mette Touborg, representing the...
. The girls are grinding an army into existence via the magic stone. They then comment that they are "not yet warmed by the blood of slaughtered men".
The girls continue to grind even harder and the shafts of the mill-frame snap. The two then sing a prophecy of vengeance mentioning Hrólfr Kraki, Yrsa
Yrsa
Yrsa, Yrse, Yrs or Urse was a tragic heroine of Scandinavian legend.She appears in several versions relating to her husband, the Swedish king Eadgils, and/or to her father and rapist/lover/husband Halga and their son Hroðulf...
, Fróði
Fróði
Fróði is the name of a number of legendary Danish kings in various texts including Beowulf, Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda and his Ynglinga saga, Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum, and the Grottasöngr. A Danish king by this name also appears as a minor character in the Middle High German epic Die...
and Halfdan
Halfdan
Halfdan was a late 5th and early 6th century legendary Danish king of the Scylding lineage, the son of king named Fróði in many accounts, noted mainly as the father to the two kings who succeeded him in the rule of Denmark, kings named Hroðgar and Halga in the Old English poem Beowulf and named...
:
|
|
Now filled with a great rage, the girls intensely grind until finally the grinding mechanism has collapsed and the magical stone has split into two. With the impeding army soon to arrive, one of the two girls finishes the song with:
- Frodi, we have ground to the point where we must stop,
- now the ladies have had a full stint of milling!
Prose Edda
Snorri relates in the Prose EddaProse Edda
The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Nordic mythology...
that Skjöldr
Skjöldr
Skjöldr was among the first legendary Danish kings. He is mentioned in the Prose Edda, in Ynglinga saga, in Chronicon Lethrense, in Sven Aggesen's history, in Arngrímur Jónsson's Latin abstract of the lost Skjöldunga saga and in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum...
ruled the country that we today call Denmark. Skjöldr had a son named Friðleifr who succeeded him on the throne. Friðleifr had a son who was named Fróði
Fróði
Fróði is the name of a number of legendary Danish kings in various texts including Beowulf, Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda and his Ynglinga saga, Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum, and the Grottasöngr. A Danish king by this name also appears as a minor character in the Middle High German epic Die...
who became king after Friðleifr, and this was at the time when Caesar Augustus proclaimed peace on earth and the Christian figure Jesus was supposedly born. The same peace ruled in Scandinavia, but there it was called Fróði's peace. The North was so peaceful that no man hurt another, even if he met his father's or his brother's killer, free or tied. No man was a robber and a golden ring could rest on the moor of Jelling
Jelling
Jelling is a village in Denmark with a population of 3,248 , located in Jelling Parish approx. 10 km northwest of Vejle. The city lies 105 metres above sea level.-Location:...
for a long time.
King Fróði visited Sweden and its king Fjölnir
Fjölnir
In Norse mythology, Fjölnir, Fjölner, Fjolner or Fjolne was a Swedish king of the House of Yngling, at Gamla Uppsala. Fjölnir appears in a semi-mythological context as the son of Freyr and his consort Gerðr...
, and from Fjölnir he bought two female slave giantesses named Fenja and Menja who were big and strong. In Denmark, there were two big mill stones which were so big that no man was strong enough to use them. However, the man who ground them could ask them to produce anything he wished. This mill was called "Grótti" and it had been given to Fróði by Hengikjopt.
Fróði had Fenja and Menja tied to the mill and asked them to grind gold, peace and happiness for himself. Then he gave them neither rest nor sleep longer than the time of a song or the silence of the cuckoo. In revenge Fenja and Menja started to sing a song named the "song of Grótti" (the poem itself) and before they ended it, they had produced a host led by a sea-king
Sea-King
A Sea King was the Viking name for a powerful pirate chieftain.They could be actual kings of Sweden , Denmark or a Norwegian kingdom, and sons of kings, such as Refil, but they could also be men "without roof" like Hjörvard the Ylfing.In the Norse sagas, such men without roof could be so powerful...
named Mysing. Mysing attacked Fróði during the night and killed him, and left with rich booty. This was the end of the Fróði peace.
Mysing brought Grótti as well as Fenja and Menja and asked them to grind salt. At midnight, they asked Mysing if he did not have salt enough, but he asked them to grind more. They only ground for a short while before the ships sank. A giant whirlpool (maelstrom from Mal -mill and ström -stream) was formed as the sea started rushing through the centre of the mill stone. Then the sea begun turning salt.
Toponyms
According to popular tradition, the islands of FanøFanø
Fanø is a Danish island in the North Sea off the coast of southwestern Denmark, and is the very northernmost of the Danish Wadden Sea Islands...
and Mandø
Mandø
Mandø is one of the Danish Wadden Sea islands off the southwest coast of Jutland, Denmark in the Wadden Sea, part of the North Sea. The island covers an area of 7.63 km² and has 62 inhabitants...
, off the west coast of Denmark, are named after Fenja and Menja.
External links
- Gróttasöngr in Old Norse from «Kulturformidlingen norrøne tekster og kvad» Norway.
- Grottasöngr (Old Norse)
- Grottasöngr (English)
- Den nya Grottesången in Swedish from «Kulturformidlingen norrøne tekster og kvad» Norway.