Gullveig

(Taken from Ekortu's publication "Þursakyngi, Volume 3, Gullveigarbók.")

The thursian race was black and wrathful in essence and will – abnormally formed because of their unnatural condition within cosmos, like Aurgelmir himself. Some of these thurses had special functions and extraordinary powers, two of them were Gullveig and Loki. They were both shape-shifters because of their multi-aspectual traits, and their powers went beyond those of regular thurses. Gullveig, the Old One, was the originator of magic and transformation, which made her into a very powerful giantess. This is why she could dwell amongst the ǽsir-gods without being detected as an intruder in Ásgarðr; she appeared as a goddess in form and essence, fooling even the demiurgic áss, Óðinn, in his own halls, though Gullveig’s true essence (allegorized as a heart in the sagas) was made purely out of the poisonous black ice of Niflheimr, and Loki’s out of the furious flames of Múspellsheimr. Their purpose was to lead all of the thursian races in bringing cosmic existence to its downfall, and to infect the soul of the universe with the “poison” of Chaos, letting it burn and dissolve from within. This is represented in the z rune, which holds Gullveig’s rune i and Loki’s rune k, and it is also represented in the g rune, which is one of the sacred runes of Gullveig, holding in itself the i rune and the k rune, both duplicated to strengthen their meanings and magic.

Gullveig was from the beginning known to be huge and terrible. As Angrboða she is known as the black formidable mother and crone, dwelling as the sole ruler in the atrocious dark woods from the underworld in Jötunheimr called Járnviðr, "ironwood", mothering and spawning legions of deformed thursian wolves and werewolves. This is symbolized in the E rune. As Heiðr, she is known as the black underworldly crone and giantess of the black anti-cosmic runes and magic, who comes at midnight up from under the ground and walks between houses to visit the practitioners of the black arts (or fjölkunnigr, as they were called), to teach them about the black runes and anti-cosmic magic. This is represented in the mysteries of the n rune and the g rune. She has been called "she, the old one", "she, the wise one", and "the three Thurs maids". This is how Völuspá introduces Gullveig early in its foretelling:

“…untill the three thurs-maids came, very mighty maids, from the worlds of the giants.”

The Eddas are the most important pre-Christian Scandinavian manuscripts, holding a wonderful collection of mythological sagas. One of them is of course the Völuspá, which is a foretelling of the fate of the giants, worlds, gods, and men. This rich allegorization starts with explaining the creation of the cosmos, how a Chaos-giant starts procreating, and is slaughtered for the gods to "build" the cosmos from his slaughtered remains. It follows with the glorification of the gods and how they lived rich and happy, built mighty temples and nice forges, and played happy games in their mighty yards. Everything was perfect "untill three Thurs maids, very powerful, came from the worlds of the giants." From here on, the saga changes drastically and the journey towards Ragna Rök begins.

These three Thurs maids are evidently Gullveig-Heiðr-Aurboða, later referred to in the same foretelling as the "thrice burned and the thrice born", something I will verify throughout this book. Not many have dared to admit this, most have actually kept their pen in its ink-well on this one, which surprises me as it is a vital clue in comprehending Old Norse mythology as a whole. I like to understand this as the introduction of Gullveig in the Old Norse mythology and sagas, an allegorization of the fact that from the very beginning she planted the seed of destruction into this world. With this explanatory epithet, we now have a good understanding of what she really was. This will be the basis of my research of Gullveig’s entity and essence in the mythological sagas.

The Old One

One of the determined primordial thurses that survived Óðinn’s tyranny was Gullveig. Because her purpose was too important, nothing could really stop her – the saga about her rime-heart below will confirm this. The cosmic overlords tried, but the black essence of Gullveig was too powerful: her black rime-cold glacier-made heart was created from primordial black ice, spewed out from Chaos itself. She is the feminine representation of the acosmic Chaos – the wrath beyond wraths, the all-devourer beyond all-devourers. She is the anti-cosmic womb and the cosmic tomb – which is represented in the N rune.

She was called by many different names throughout the sagas, depending on what era, what aspect, and what shape she took as a shape-shifter. Known names for Gullveig are Heiðr, Aurboða, Angrboða and Hyrrokin. Proof of the analogies will be provided throughout this book. As Angrboða, she took the eastern parts of Jötunheimr, which was called Járnviðr, "ironwood", as her province. The sagas depict it as very dark and atrocious, and as an impenetrable forest. It was there where she spawned monster and demon hordes, the kin of Fenrir – as it is said in Völuspá (40):

“In the east she the old one sat, in Járnviðr and there bore Fenrir’s kin.”

It is told that Gullveig lives in Járnviðr with the sword keeper Eggþér, he is her shepherd («gygjar hirðir»). According to my theory (which I will explain thoroughly later on), he hides and guards Lævateinn, the sword of vengeance, for Surtr until Ragna Rök. As it is told in the beginning of Ragna Rök, Eggþér sits on a big pile, «haugr», assumedly happy from the knowledge of what is to come, playing on his harp (it is, in my opinion, probably below this «haugr» where he keeps Surtr’s sword). Völuspá (42) says:

“He, the giantess’ herder, the happy Eggþér, sat upon the heap and played on the harp; above him in galgviðr called a light red rooster, his name was Fjalarr.”

Not much is known about Eggþér, but as his name tells us he probably has only one important purpose: to guard the sword of Surtr named Lævateinn, created by Loki. The name Eggþér, meaning "sword keeper" or "servant", derives from the Old Norse «egg», "the edge or blade of a sword", and «-þér» derives from the Old Norse «þegn», a "thane, liegeman or subject", meaning a servant, which makes me think of Völuspá, where he is called «gýgjar hirðir», the "giantess’ herdsman"; «hirðir» as in «hirð», "a king's or earl's body-guard", the king's man. This could mean that Eggþér was supposed to be the giantess’ herdsman, who was taking care of her monster-herd, and at the same time, being her servant, he was keeping or guarding a sword. The sword also appears in the above-mentioned stanza from Völuspá, where it is said that Surtr’s son, Suttung-Fjalarr, will come as a Red Rooster and visit Eggþér to collect the sword. You can compare the name Eggþér to the name of Beowulf’s father, Ecgþeow, which most likely is an Anglo-Saxon version of Eggþér: Old English «ecg», Old Norse «egg», "edge or sword-blade", and Old English «þeow», Old Norse «þegn», "thane, subject or servant".

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Gullveig, the descendant of the rime-powers – Loki’s female counterpart and ally – is as beautiful as her true husband Loki and her daughter Gerðr. Gerðr was the daughter of Gullveig-Aurboða and Gýmir. Gylfaginning (37) says: "A man was called Gýmir, and his spouse Aurboða, she was of the giant-race. Their daughter was Gerðr, who was fairest of all women."

Gullveig should be looked upon as a mother-giantess, since she procreated most of the hordes of monsters and wolf-thurses, all of which will gather, fight and triumph on the final day of wrath – Ragna Rök. Her most important ragnarokian children with Loki are Jörmungandr, Fenrir, and Hel. Not only is she a mother giantess: under the name Heiðr, "the shining one", she is the witch giantess, the wielder of the blackest seeds. She was the brightness crawling out of the abyss and taking form, up through endless darkness, and slithering through the crusty bounds of middle earth. Bright as a shadowless light she came, erect like a burning spine of a wand she stood, and started a journey to the yards of ungovernable and receptive folk, to instruct them on the unknown and dark arts of the underworlds and beyond. She was known as the wicked crone, giantess of the runes and black magic, and as the one who came at midnight up from under earth, walking between houses to visit seiðr-women and teach them of her ways. She is the inventor of black magic and runes – the craft and cunning to seduce giants, humans and gods to gain her end. From her bewitched seat, the «seiðstóll» or «rokstóll», she taught this magic, which struck as a weapon with confusion, disease and death. She enjoys teaching humans about the anti-cosmic runes, and these runes are of rime-thursian black magic. This is her crone-aspect, which is generously emphasized in the Old Norse lore. Gullveig-Heiðr got some people – some black souls that had managed to stay receptive to the black and anti-cosmic light – to truly understand her magic and purpose. This understanding has been called «Fræ Aurboðu», "Aurboða’s Seed" – the carrier of the poison, which is represented with the N rune – one of the runes particularly sacred to Gullveig:

“The destructive seeds, which Gullveig in the dawn of time sowed in the minds of humanity, granting harvests throughout centuries, and with each century henceforth richer.”

Gullveig is as intelligent as beautiful – cunning and quick-witted – and in her sinister way of thinking, she has a very strong potential in foreseeing spiteful moves. This weighs heavy for me, as I think Gullveig is thought to be the seeress who foretells the Völuspá. As a female counterpart of Loki, she made sly plans from the beginning of the creation of the cosmos, and follows them to the end. She brought darkness from the very depths of the dungeons of Niflheimr, to the brightest garden of Ásgarðr. This skilled cunning is only wielded by her and Loki, of all the powers in existence. So, it was not an accidental occurrence that Gullveig first got accepted and was very popular with the ǽsir – just like her masculine counterpart, and it took a very long time and a large amount of effort before the ǽsir became aware of her hate and destructive intentions. In fact, they uncovered her intentions when it was too late, when she had already wielded her pestilent magic for centuries, and sown more anti-cosmic seeds than there are stars in the sky. She had spawned legions of horrible monsters, strengthened her powers in black anti-cosmic seiðr, killed many gods and men, and evoked relentless dark powers from within her own darkness and abysmal essence. She has sung endlessly black galdrar and hailed the Current of Chaos for so long, that the cosmic doom is inevitable.

It was already too late when the ǽsir understood that Gullveig, under the name of Aurboða, had worked as Frigg’s maidservant and got Freyja’s confidence by deception, and with malicious craftiness got Freyja to use black seiðr. Since Freyja is the goddess of fertility and was worshipped richly all over Scandinavia, one easily understands the devastating consequences that Gullveig had in mind. As the ǽsir understood the terrible outcome this black witchcraft would have if it spread and circulated, they panicked. They seized her, tortured her by thrusting their spears into her body, and held her with their spears over a bonfire, burning her to death in the shimmering halls of Ásgarðr, immediately and without trial. This relentless action by the ǽsir would have a major impact on the gods’ and vanir’s alliance later in the sagas, as Gullveig had influenced the vanir to follow her and not the gods.

As self-sacrifice is Gullveig’s greatest virtue, I am certain this was according to her plans; and as Gullveig is of Ýmir-Aurgelmir’s primordial rime-thurs family (Bergelmir’s grandchildren’s blood, the younger thursian family), it was impossible for the ǽsir to burn her rime-heart with cosmic flames – where her powerful spirit laid hidden.  As they burned her in a bonfire, her rime-heart would not burn, it was only half singed by the cosmic flames. For her heart is as cold as the primordial ice that made Ýmir-Aurgelmir: the source of Hvergelmir’s Venomous Waters – the eitr, "poison". The cosmic flames are impure and could only burn Gullveig’s form and not her essence. Therefore, her spirit or essence survived and was reborn into the worlds. In the sagas, this is allegorized as her heart being only half-burnt – the heart of primeval cold. This is how she got the epithet Hyrrokin, "the flame-smoked", meaning that the divine flames were impure by smoke; too impure to incinerate Gullveig’s essence. The smoke has been compared with fog, and thereby link Gullveig with this myth to her “place of birth” in Niflheimr. She is also known as «úrsvöl» and «úrsvöl gymis völva», "Gýmir’s primevally cold witch". Three times she got burnt with impure flames, three times she was reborn.

After Gullveig, the origin of the evil runes and witchcraft, got executed and burnt by Þórr and the ǽsir, Loki looked in the ashes for her half-burnt heart – as he knew of her plans – found it and devoured it. After a time, he gave birth to her infamous children. In the beginning of Ragna Rök, hordes of thurs-wolves and werewolves – Gullveig's and Eggþér's monster-herds – storm out from Járnviðr in the east in order to destroy the world. Loki in thurs-wrath led the vast army of the monster-herds from Járnviðr – evil beings of sundry kinds – as Loki has the constant and triumphant place as their faithful spearhead.

Gullveig’s Misinterpretation as Freyja

The misinterpretation of Gullveig as Freyja is very common in contemporary literature. Below is an argument which goes against this hypothesis.

This is what the Old sagas tell us about Gullveig-Heiðr-Aurboða-Angrboða-Hyrrokin, as it is said in Völuspá In Skamma(2):

“Freyr owned Gerðr, she was the daughter of Gýmir and Aurboða, and of giant-race.”

Freyr married the giantess Gerðr, daughter of Gýmir and Aurboða, in exchange for his sword (Lævateinn-Gambanteinn), amongst other things. The sword was handed over to Gýmir and Aurboða in the sagas, and suddenly it was kept under Angrboða’s command in Járnviðr. This presents a strong argument for Aurboða being the same as Angrboða. Aurboða was known to wield black magic, and was called «úrsvöl gymis völva», "Gýmir’s ever-cold witch", in the Prose Edda, and this links her to the myth about Gullveig-Angrboða-Heiðr too – the ever-cold one or the one of primeval cold, referring to Gullveig-Angrboða-Heiðr’s rime-thurs heart that will not burn, because of its blood and essence of primeval ice: eitr – Hrimþurs origin. Something equally important from the same paragraph as «úrsvöl gymis völva» are the words: «förir björn, þar er bára brestr, undinna festa, oþt i ægis kjopta úrsvöl gymis völva», meaning that Gýmir’s primevally-cold witch often conveys ships on wild waves; this wind or storming aspect links her strongly with Gullveig-Angrboða-Heiðr’s other identity, Hyrrokin, who “pushed” out Baldr’s ship out to sea as a favor to the gods. She is represented as a storm-giantess in some myths; in Ynglinga saga, for example, as a giantess of the eastern storms. The fact that Aurboða was represented as something from the east can only be linked to the Járnviðr and to Angrboða in the underworld, which are repeatedly explained to be located in the east. As it is said in Völuspá (40):

“In the east sat the Old One in the Ironwood and nurtured Fenrir’s children.”

Like Loki, she made her way into the walls of Ásgarðr, where thurses are strictly forbidden, and got Freyja into malicious activities. It is told in Völsunga saga that Hrimnir’s daughter comes to Ásgarðr as a gift, and Hrimnir’s daughter is Gullveig-Angrboða-Heiðr, as stated in Völuspá In Skamma.

Maybe the whole misunderstanding of Gullveig being Freyja derives from Loki’s spiteful attack on Freyja in Lokasenna:

“Be quiet, Freyja! You are a witch and full of destruction.”

As Aurboða taught her black magic, Freyja was a goddess of witchcraft, and loved gold; I guess a lazy mind would just draw parallels from this.

Simek suggests that Aurboða has similarities with the chthonic beings. Rydberg has proven that Aurboða is Gullveig-Heiðr-Angrboða-Hyrrokin, and I think I just did the same.

Lastly, I want to bring up known recorded kennings in the Old Icelandic sagas for gold and Freyja, to show that there are no insinuations whatsoever that Gullveig would be Freyja. Snorri’s Edda has a great collection of sundry kennings, and I believe this is the best source for such.