mentaton see here and elsewhere in the poem a Christian meaning These will be more inclined to accept as genuine the defective stanza which follows the present stanza 49 in one manuscript and which Schach includes A literal translation carries so many inevitable but perhaps inappropriate connections with Christian terminology that I prefer to place it here It seems in any case hard to fit mto the chronology and what seems to me the spirit of the poem at least without the lost passages which must have accompamed It

The mighty one come down on the day ofdoom tht powerful lord whorule$overaU

The final stanza bas also been the subject ofmuch conflicting interpretation in which the dragon is seen in a variety offunctions from purifyingto threatenshying Like Peter Hallberg and Paul Schach I see its presence as a reminder that good cannot be disentangled from evil to separate light from the darkness is to intensify the darkness

THE GODS ASIRAND VANIR

qVuuif

Mythology frequently joins the same characters [Odin Thor and Frey1 in a triad Among them alone are divided the three treasures forged by the dwarfs after losing a bet with the malicious mki Odin gets the magic ring Thor the hammer that is to be the instrument of his battles and frey the wild boar with the golden bristles It is they and only they whom the v~luspd (strs 53-56) describes as beingjolned in the supreme duels and deaths ofths eschatologishycal battle More generally it is they-and the goddess freya closely associated with frey and Njord-who dominate who indeed monopolize almost all the

frmnGaJsorhltAHitntNorthmnbyGltotgeDIlrnlzilCoPllshhORegOmoflheurnversltyofcau

fOtu Roprmedbypemtslon

PART 7 SCANDINAVIA AND THE GERMANIC TRIBES

mythologicalmateriailtis no less signifIcant that the three gods who splitthe property ofthe dead--the last two under rather obscure conditions-are Odin who consigns to himself the nobles or half the dead from the battlefield Thor to whom go the thralls (more correctly no doubt the nonnobles) and freya who according to one text takes the otherhalfofthose killed in battle andaccordingtoanothertexttakesthedeadwomen~

Such is the pIeSentsituation But this union and this happy harmony founded ona dear analysis ofhllman wishes have not always exlsted altxording to the legend in a far distant past the two divine groups lived at first separately as neighbors then they fought a fierce war after which the most distinguished Vanir were associated with the poundsir wtth the rest of their peopJeliving someshywhere away from the struggle and the cares of their cult Four strophes from that breathless poem the vplwpd in which the sibyl relates quite allusively the entire history of the gods two texts of the erudite Snorr and fUllllly an unadroit plagiarism by hlscontemporarySaxoGrammaticus-these infoI1ll us of this initiaicrisisofthegodswhichispresupposed a1sOinseveralpassagesfrom other Eddic poems These documents are not homogeneous two present the event in mythological terms two transpose It into historical andgeographicai terms The fIrst group includes strophes 21-24 of the v~ and a passage in Snorris mythological manual written for the use of poets the ScdldskapanndJ (chap4)thesecondlncJudeschapters124andSoftheYngliI9asagG1dlsshycllSSingtheYngliRgQTsupposeddescendantsoffreyandchapter7ofthefirst book of SUos Gesta DarlOrum a fragment of the saga ofHadingusH which fills chapters S through II of that bOOL

a) Vplu5pli 21-241 have elsewhere made anextended analysis of this passage whlch the hypercritical Eugen Mogk sought to eliminate from the dossier on the lEsir and Vanir The order of events-described as the first war of armies in the world-seems somewhat confused in these rapid and discontinuous strophes which do not narrate but content themselves with evoking episodes already known to the listeners There is extensive reference to a female being calledGuUveigliterallygold-drinkgold-drunkenness sent by the Vanirto the lEsir who despite metallurgical treatment cannot rid themselves of her A sorceress she sows corruption particularly among women There is also reference (24) to aspear apparently magic thrown by odin against an enemy army which does not prevent that broken was the wall of the stronghold of the lEsir and that the warlike (1) Vanir were able to trample the plains Bllt

JJl1irbullbullbull eurogtI bullbullbull I

nothing decisive results from these contrary movements because (23)thegods hold an assembly for peacewbere theydi5CUSs eventual compensation

b) SkQldskaparmdl (chap SProseEdda) (The response ofBragi to the question Whence comes the art called poetry)

The beglnning of It WIIS that the gods were at war with the people known as theVanirandtheyarrangedforapeacerneetingbetwe~nthemandmadea trlCi In thl way they both went up to a crock and spat into it When th~y were going awtrj the gods took the truce token and would not allow it to be iost and madeofit arnanBewacalledKvasir He bSDwtsethatnobodyasks him any question he is unable to answer He travelled far and wide rthe world to teach men wiiidom and came once to feast with some dwarfs rJalar andGalarThesecalledhtmasldefurawordlnprivateandkilledhllnetting hlsbloodrunintotwocrookiandonekettleThebttewascalled6orOrirbut the crocks were known as SOn and Bo6n They mixed hi blood with honey and it became the mead whlch makes whoever drinks of it a poet or a scholar The dwarfs told the JEslr thatKvasir had choked with learning because there wasnoonesuffictentlywell-informedtocompetewithhlrninknowledge3

(There follows the story of the acquisition of the mead by odin who Is to be lts greatest beneficiary)

c)YfI9li~(thebeginningoftheHeimskrlngkl)(chaps1245)

1 of the Three Contbunts-Theearths round on whlch rnankind Uves Is much indented Greateas rut into the land from tho ocean We know that aea goes from the Norva Sound [the StraIt ofGibraitarj ali the way to J6rshysalaland [Jerusslern Land Palestine] From this sea a long arm extends to the northeastwhiGh Is called the Biack Sea It separatos the three parts of the wotld The part to the eastwardis called Asla but that whlch lies to the westofitiscalledbysom~EuropebyothEndNorthoftheBiackSealies Svfthj6ththeGreatortheCold

sorne men consider svlthj6tll the Great not less in sbe than Serklandthe Greal [Sal3CltnLand North Africa]andSDme think It is equal In size to Blashyland [Blackrnans Land Africa]The northern part of svlthj6th ls uncultlshyvatedonwountoffrotandcoldjllStas the southempartofBhIlandl1 a desshyertbecauseoftheheatofthesunlnSvfthj6ththerearelUanylargeprovlnce$ There are also many tribes and many tongues There are giants and dwarfs there are black men and lIlBnykinds ofstrange tribes Also there are anJmals and dragons ofrnarwlious sUe Outofthe north fnllU the rnountains whlch

i

C~IJort w~ts

43

The Germanic world

I Myth and Hero

The earliest Gennanic literature O ld English Old High German Old Saxon and Old Nor~ knows a great many combats between heroes and dragons or heroic dversar ie5 epica l conflicts which have continued to seile popular imagination from the Dark Ages right down 10 the 19th and 20Ih centuries in Ihe spone wlhe operas ofRichard Wagner the still unabated vogue uflhe li terary creations of lhe di stinguished philologist J R R Talkien and the immense success of the game Dungeons and Dragon The themes of all theM epic poems and tales have been repeatedly studied c3taloguedandanalyzedbyphilologistandfolklori talikeandlheirimilarity to the themes or Greek Indibull arid OIhu legendltlry material has been noIed since the 19th cemury The thematic imilari ties m~y be presumed as given our concern he re is l~ngu3ge

A number of verbal parallels among the various Germmic dragon-slaying legends have been adduced which prove by the tenets of the com parative method thattheyvegcneticallyreatedandcommoninheritance Suchistheremarkabeand methodologically indispensable agreement in what Meinet (192~J) would term the cri tical deurot ail singu li er the hfptmiddotsax hilled knife WEAPON ofGiant adve rsary in the GlyenlIissalia (sect66) and a hapax in Old Norse and the haftmiddotmiu hilled sword Hrunting Which Unfenh lomcd to Beowulf ( 14~ 7) and which was useless against Grendels mo ther( I~ 23 bilan noldr would not bite) l1e equationof the compounds is nOlable for tWO reasons The first is that both conte ~ts refer to the antiquity of the weapon 8rowulfl458 dn foran ~aldgr5triono foremos t of the anc ient treasures Grrttissaga ~66 metali ngu istically asptll kolluu mrnpa hqtisax such men called

I Comparlt lgtibliophyinKladgtltrt95() thpo f ciOlionis iltTolkiltnI938 ForutnlGltrmaniltcornpgticfr=ntyandin ltodttJii Fontltnro t9~OAppelli ~

2 CfKlllltbcrt930 iiiond tolinlt 1451 Thaltt Gltrmonic nmofthc dqtybull ~hcftl ttifi eImltnt dGoicjJimiddot icnhmiddotthltnlt ootmiddotgtltt~ middot middotmiddoterH onquer Gnkn E (H)pcrll pocltiltontbutworthponn The ntiltof tOIIolthcnltmiddotEo1 oiltllttlun ho yllltMgtnilt bullbullrbiXogtinHomncGlaquok Cf Vdmiddotop ibullbull omiddot

4 ) 71r~ G~fmltUic worid

then hept i5a~middot The second is that ampowulf and Grettisltaga come repectively at the beg inning and the end of heat tested Old Gemlanic heroic literaf)middottraditioo The two arc separaled by nearly600yealS (8th 10 14th century) yet they arc veryclosc (o each other perhaps idcntic~l in theme and message ie in ~mean ing It is a remarkable testimony to the tenacity of the Gemanic tradition

Perhaps the clearest e_idcnce for aCOOlmon Germanic (at any rate Wes t and NOllh Ge rmanic) dragonmiddotlaying myth arc the respec ti ve genealogies of the heroes Sigemund in 8rowulf and SigmundrmiddotS iguI~r (Siegfried) in Old NOIse

Wals i VQI~u ngr I----l----

middotSister ( ) Sigemund Sign) () Sigmundr=oI (the W[sing) I I Fitela(nrjaofSig) Sinmiddot fjQlli Sigurr

(d OHG PN IMHG SigfritJ (Sintarmiddot)Fizzi loJ

The identity orthe names and the ir reatiom the mythopoe ic incest motif(probably rewns tructible for Old Fnglish as well) all point unequivocally to a common Gcanic mythographic baokgrOllnd whether the dragolHlayer is Sigemund as in BrowuforhissonSigurllrS igfritasclsewhere lt iswiththis myth that wemaybegi n

Sigemunds exploit is narrated as pan of the victory song composed to celebrate B~wulfsvictoryoverGrendelg67ff) Inthisvictorysoogwehave a treasure house ofthemetalanguage of Old Germanic poetry Mindful orlays (gidda Ifydig)the poet found another poem truly bound (ie rightly alli terative] word6amprfandf sdJt Igtb~ndtnl (With the neuter plural word compare Gree k [1100) He began to vary words (wordu m wrLdanl as Klaeberputs it (ad 874) in the customary manner of Gcrrnanicpoetry andIOldofthcdccdOfSigemund

Sigemundegesprong reflerdcalxlge d6munljte1 Ylgtan w(ges heard wyrm cwealdc hordcs hyrde

ToSigemund came anerhs deathltJay nQJittle fam e since the ha ndy battJer killed a serpent the guardian ofa treasure

Great fame is expressed in the ancient figureoflitOles lite rally unlittle fame (ddm unljltf) like Greek uo oogtttov and Vedic cf4ii i rdvab imperishable fame com pare also with the same ~mantics Greek Iiya w~ and Vedic mtihi srcfves great fame And embedded in the phonetic figure hrard honks hyrtk we ftt)d

One of the tradi tional Old Fnglish dragOll slaying formulas wyrmdcwtalltk ~i[)ed the

3 Sc bull h SohmIII9(177Jrl

How 10 Kill Dragon

Gennanic ha ~o cognate of dhi aii iiltpu the word for wonn serpent dragon LS Olrl Englih )rm Old Norse ormr Old Saxon and Old High German wlIrm Gothic walltrm Germanic wurmiz exactly cognate with Latin uermis and preSlpposmg Indo-European ~lmS The word is a rhyme formation in IndoshyEumpean to krmis probably for reascms of tabu middotk(mis is found in Celtic Baltomiddot Slade Albanian and Indo-Iranian T~ usual meani~g ofkrmis is jus worm in

most lradLlions bllt in Middle IrltlniJl II is also the word for dragon compare the Pahlavi version of the familiar Indo-European formula klrm ozad bad had slam the dragon (chap 29) Therecan benOdoubt Ihat in ~rmislkrmis we have two variants of the same alternative designatioo of [he Indo_European mythological serpentshyadversary4

Old English here uses cwellan as the unmarked verb for killthe causative of ewelan die Indo-European gd(h)- Cuneifoll11 and HieroBlyphic Luvian walshydie Old Irislt at-baill dies Greek pillru thm The causative formation middotkwajarl anachronistically gol(h)-ije-- appears to be confined to Gennanic and its use in the dragon-slaying formula is apparently an innovation confined to Old English Beawulfumishes IWQ funber instances Ixlth precisely in that formula

1053-5 ondjJoneinncheht goldeforgyldan jlonejleGrende1r mlfneicweatdc

and h~ ordered the compensation tQ be paid

forlheonehomGrendelwickedlykiIled

pejgtlgystmnniilt Grendelcwealdest

(the fIght) Hvhich Y()II killed Qrendel last night

IllC lWO eli illustrate lhe inhent~d bldirectionality of the fon1ula

~--1

even where the le~lcal eJlpression Qf KILL has been renewed from IE ghM- to Germanic middotkwoijall Old English rwelan

Other verbs as well are woctated with the narration of dragon combat in Ixlth

4 Seefunhorbctow(chap56)onamrn 5 LikowixpngtpltrtoOtdEnglihilhomeorthebocoihdlOsooobject 11

edlWilteofGrcndelBu(famp45niJaQCUltnoofComltbyrhlt figh 127JfgtYfgtofond Qjrrcwonl Uten lie (Bwwulf) me he adcIl) SLnCC Grendel is only Ihe fir of Beowulf mOIlshytrollS odvcros we could in ofltn bctlt Ihe continuator of IE rhpjngigtephmi naryictoryofotlCoflhepltOlatooist bull 1Etn_hoimjj-mealngeompren laooVltaodre canonlylholHcklOrtoltgtwooapretimllvicl

6 ComparebcGrcdnvov~bel io 11ltme 00

The GerltUlllicworld

VI~ If vega

to fight the Wolf

and perish in tlteallempt BUl he will be avenged as lhe next stanza relates the mighty son of Sigfadir miNi mgr SighiJur (Victory-Father epithet of Odin) will come

vegaatvaldyre

tQ fight with the corpse-monster (the wolf Fffirir)

and spear him through the heart Formulaically note the same collocation of the verb and the epithet in Lokasenna 58 Loki taunts Thor that he will Qot dare fight with the wolf (vii) IiIfiIl1 vega) and tlte latter will swallow Odin (SidrllJur) The verb is found only once in Bwulj(2400) but in lhe identical context and again a prophecy of doom So he survived (g~nesan) every baale

oil Ooneanne d[eg pe he wiO ~arn wynne gewegansceolde

till that one dayvben he had to fight againsttJaterpent

OldNorscprovidesuswithapreciouspieceofevidenceforthechaltQelforthe renewal and replacement of IE ghen_ by other verbs ltke Germanilt cwaljan or middotwigan (middotWltrMall) which we can only pnsent now tbe explanaliotl will come in the pages immedialeIy following In the V(Jlundarhiila 33oneoflheoldestohIteEddic poems tlte smith VQJundr makes the King NiOur swear an oath by ships sidcl shields rim borses withers and swords edge at skips bordi ok at skiaidar rmd atmarsbdgi okatmakl$egg dearly traditional language Ship and horseshiekiand sword are together the warriors transport and arms compare the instruction in the Sanskrit laws of Manu (8 13) that the man of the warrior caste (lqatriya) must swear

How 10 Kill Dr80n

apuhelial hanYQ]undar nebnli5iminni atbanaverliir

tnt you will not kill VQlundrswife nor beltome tne nane (=ltkilier) of my bride

Here kvelja and the periphrasisal hana veri1a (on which see below) are semantically identical the Choiceofeachilt guvemedby the alliteration

Thr Old English nOUn bona (bana) Old Norse imni slayer killer is frequent in poetlc te~ts in both languages In Beowulf it is applied both to heroes and (0 monsters the dragon is the slbject Cf Grendel in 174] hona rw(i)e nlah a killer is very near 2082 hona blodigloJ the blwdy_toothed killer and of the Worm who killed Beowulf and was killed by him 2824 bona swylclt trg (hi) killer also la ydead In Old Norse the dragon is he object It is used twice with the dragon Fafnir as object once of the WEAPON and once of the HER07 GdpisJpd 15

hVQsgtosgtenii me1lbanaFMniJ

You will hew With sharp sword cur her byrnie wh Farni~s bQne (the w(led Gram)

Oddrlinarwar 11

iQr1ldualli ~ierbaniFMnia

Eanh and Up-Ileaven shook when F6foirs bane(Sigurirgt looked at (Brynhildrs) fortress

43 The Germanic world

onnseinbani uxahltgtf1li

The npents single bane (used ILl bait) the head of a~ o~

I KILL SERPE~ I

1330-1 WearlhimltgtnHeorote t6handbanan w lgfqwrHre

A wandering murderous sprite (Grendels mother) slew him in Heorot

vNb ~nd the potposed Lndermite subject who nltgtt

2078-9 himGre~delwerr(l mirum maguJegtl~ t6 mu~bonan

him the famous ~oung retainer Grendel slew by mQuth

The rft compound members hand- lIld ul)_ are fo a~literatioo Beowulf taunt Unferth

lin ro Kill a Dragan

peahliuplnumbr6ltlrum tdbananwurde

though you killed your brothers

and the same verb describes the pnmeval fratricide in

1261-2 sipllan Cain wearlgt t6eegbanan inganbrejgter

since Cain killed his only brother by the sword

and the death ofHygelacs son in

2202-3 ondHeardride hildemeceas under bordhrcotlan td bonan wurdon

and baltle-~words killed Heardrede under shield-covering

After Heardredemiddots death Beowulf1egitimately succeeded to the kingship of the Geats

460 wear(l1llt Hc$olife 10 handbonan

He (Boowulfs father) slew Heatholaf

s)Man ie for dugelium Dghrefne wear tohandbonan Hllgacempan

since f (Beowulf) in the presence ofthe hosts slew Dghrefne champion oflhe Franb

From the Old NOIse Fome Edda we may cite the following Of dragons

(Gdpissd II)middot

pu mum biOom at banaverCa ReginokFMni

You will slay both Reginn and Fafnir

OfbrotheN (Reginsmdl 5)middot

atbwtaveamp

to slay the two brothers

HdgakvdJa Hundingsbana U6 (a taunt as In Bewulf587 above)

41 The Germanicorid

(puhefir jbrollrprnom Iyenlbanaorllit

you have sJainyour brother

And finally Odins question and the witchmiddots aIlswer in Baldrs Drallmor 8-9

hverrmanBaldri albanaverl)a

hann man Baldrietc

Who will slay Baldr He(BaldrblindbrotherHoIlr)willecc

In Old High German note only fhe single but telling example of he periphrasis of tragic adversaries doomed to an ineluctable conflict Hildebrand says of his son HadubraIld who does nOt recognize his father (Hildebrandslied 54)

eddoihimotibaninwerdari

orf (hall) kiil him

The construction is finally found in Old Sa~on ChrisfiaIl poetry as well forexamples see the work ofRoemarie Luhr cited below

Old Norse knows another periphrasis with he same word bani in tbe same meaningmiddot slay ban(ajollJ bera af(+dative) literally bring the killer( 5) word from the death messagemiddot The expression is explained by Gering sv as derived from he legal obligation of a murderer to acknowledge hirnselfas such IO

Compare FafniltmaI39 or R~ginn skuli I miff ~~ra that Reginn should slay me Landmfmabdk Iv 17 (the forgemiddotsong of Ihesmilh VQlundr)

afellifu BMstu meirr~

f killed eleven alone Blow harder

toOnomlghllsohowevuginadiretydtnorthoaccfkithngiltflltinglbe OXlt 111 age tn RV SIOlJ the miU onlitn and V called I11ltiT will n8middot ajjr dlliltiJThcmiddotwiflmcngltrmiddotifonnulaioinVedcdlildajlrdRVto982a~dSIdmajirdmJ981t igtalsoiGreknq~~att5j26rdlcllySppOO443lmiddotPwhci[iinfinaJintlgtltame

triotlot lhatocupidbyrlialt6cpdttovinlho ti ScoontholtloNagyl974lt7 Gk iiriltJolt middotmeengemiddot Itogt an ltlymologr old w IU il wilh Vedit 01lt1lt wift lbe trnsferred pifflell Amelttnilprefonnhflghiowdllaquoounlfwboth For OlIamp of thlt rneJ epilltol intymologyoochp12

ItCltdfromGordot949IJ4 For thI0ioid294 No 01gt0 theeliamOmem whlth pernimiddotmiddotcalmiddotmiddot well -horizoImiddotatlil i bullbull linkageinbmiddotdllllt-lrhhmiddotmiddotym(bycon1ltllIl

da)lt ei

PART 7 SCANDINAVIA AND THE GERMANIC TRIBES

mythologicalmateriailtis no less signifIcant that the three gods who splitthe property ofthe dead--the last two under rather obscure conditions-are Odin who consigns to himself the nobles or half the dead from the battlefield Thor to whom go the thralls (more correctly no doubt the nonnobles) and freya who according to one text takes the otherhalfofthose killed in battle andaccordingtoanothertexttakesthedeadwomen~

Such is the pIeSentsituation But this union and this happy harmony founded ona dear analysis ofhllman wishes have not always exlsted altxording to the legend in a far distant past the two divine groups lived at first separately as neighbors then they fought a fierce war after which the most distinguished Vanir were associated with the poundsir wtth the rest of their peopJeliving someshywhere away from the struggle and the cares of their cult Four strophes from that breathless poem the vplwpd in which the sibyl relates quite allusively the entire history of the gods two texts of the erudite Snorr and fUllllly an unadroit plagiarism by hlscontemporarySaxoGrammaticus-these infoI1ll us of this initiaicrisisofthegodswhichispresupposed a1sOinseveralpassagesfrom other Eddic poems These documents are not homogeneous two present the event in mythological terms two transpose It into historical andgeographicai terms The fIrst group includes strophes 21-24 of the v~ and a passage in Snorris mythological manual written for the use of poets the ScdldskapanndJ (chap4)thesecondlncJudeschapters124andSoftheYngliI9asagG1dlsshycllSSingtheYngliRgQTsupposeddescendantsoffreyandchapter7ofthefirst book of SUos Gesta DarlOrum a fragment of the saga ofHadingusH which fills chapters S through II of that bOOL

a) Vplu5pli 21-241 have elsewhere made anextended analysis of this passage whlch the hypercritical Eugen Mogk sought to eliminate from the dossier on the lEsir and Vanir The order of events-described as the first war of armies in the world-seems somewhat confused in these rapid and discontinuous strophes which do not narrate but content themselves with evoking episodes already known to the listeners There is extensive reference to a female being calledGuUveigliterallygold-drinkgold-drunkenness sent by the Vanirto the lEsir who despite metallurgical treatment cannot rid themselves of her A sorceress she sows corruption particularly among women There is also reference (24) to aspear apparently magic thrown by odin against an enemy army which does not prevent that broken was the wall of the stronghold of the lEsir and that the warlike (1) Vanir were able to trample the plains Bllt

JJl1irbullbullbull eurogtI bullbullbull I

nothing decisive results from these contrary movements because (23)thegods hold an assembly for peacewbere theydi5CUSs eventual compensation

b) SkQldskaparmdl (chap SProseEdda) (The response ofBragi to the question Whence comes the art called poetry)

The beglnning of It WIIS that the gods were at war with the people known as theVanirandtheyarrangedforapeacerneetingbetwe~nthemandmadea trlCi In thl way they both went up to a crock and spat into it When th~y were going awtrj the gods took the truce token and would not allow it to be iost and madeofit arnanBewacalledKvasir He bSDwtsethatnobodyasks him any question he is unable to answer He travelled far and wide rthe world to teach men wiiidom and came once to feast with some dwarfs rJalar andGalarThesecalledhtmasldefurawordlnprivateandkilledhllnetting hlsbloodrunintotwocrookiandonekettleThebttewascalled6orOrirbut the crocks were known as SOn and Bo6n They mixed hi blood with honey and it became the mead whlch makes whoever drinks of it a poet or a scholar The dwarfs told the JEslr thatKvasir had choked with learning because there wasnoonesuffictentlywell-informedtocompetewithhlrninknowledge3

(There follows the story of the acquisition of the mead by odin who Is to be lts greatest beneficiary)

c)YfI9li~(thebeginningoftheHeimskrlngkl)(chaps1245)

1 of the Three Contbunts-Theearths round on whlch rnankind Uves Is much indented Greateas rut into the land from tho ocean We know that aea goes from the Norva Sound [the StraIt ofGibraitarj ali the way to J6rshysalaland [Jerusslern Land Palestine] From this sea a long arm extends to the northeastwhiGh Is called the Biack Sea It separatos the three parts of the wotld The part to the eastwardis called Asla but that whlch lies to the westofitiscalledbysom~EuropebyothEndNorthoftheBiackSealies Svfthj6ththeGreatortheCold

sorne men consider svlthj6tll the Great not less in sbe than Serklandthe Greal [Sal3CltnLand North Africa]andSDme think It is equal In size to Blashyland [Blackrnans Land Africa]The northern part of svlthj6th ls uncultlshyvatedonwountoffrotandcoldjllStas the southempartofBhIlandl1 a desshyertbecauseoftheheatofthesunlnSvfthj6ththerearelUanylargeprovlnce$ There are also many tribes and many tongues There are giants and dwarfs there are black men and lIlBnykinds ofstrange tribes Also there are anJmals and dragons ofrnarwlious sUe Outofthe north fnllU the rnountains whlch

i

C~IJort w~ts

43

The Germanic world

I Myth and Hero

The earliest Gennanic literature O ld English Old High German Old Saxon and Old Nor~ knows a great many combats between heroes and dragons or heroic dversar ie5 epica l conflicts which have continued to seile popular imagination from the Dark Ages right down 10 the 19th and 20Ih centuries in Ihe spone wlhe operas ofRichard Wagner the still unabated vogue uflhe li terary creations of lhe di stinguished philologist J R R Talkien and the immense success of the game Dungeons and Dragon The themes of all theM epic poems and tales have been repeatedly studied c3taloguedandanalyzedbyphilologistandfolklori talikeandlheirimilarity to the themes or Greek Indibull arid OIhu legendltlry material has been noIed since the 19th cemury The thematic imilari ties m~y be presumed as given our concern he re is l~ngu3ge

A number of verbal parallels among the various Germmic dragon-slaying legends have been adduced which prove by the tenets of the com parative method thattheyvegcneticallyreatedandcommoninheritance Suchistheremarkabeand methodologically indispensable agreement in what Meinet (192~J) would term the cri tical deurot ail singu li er the hfptmiddotsax hilled knife WEAPON ofGiant adve rsary in the GlyenlIissalia (sect66) and a hapax in Old Norse and the haftmiddotmiu hilled sword Hrunting Which Unfenh lomcd to Beowulf ( 14~ 7) and which was useless against Grendels mo ther( I~ 23 bilan noldr would not bite) l1e equationof the compounds is nOlable for tWO reasons The first is that both conte ~ts refer to the antiquity of the weapon 8rowulfl458 dn foran ~aldgr5triono foremos t of the anc ient treasures Grrttissaga ~66 metali ngu istically asptll kolluu mrnpa hqtisax such men called

I Comparlt lgtibliophyinKladgtltrt95() thpo f ciOlionis iltTolkiltnI938 ForutnlGltrmaniltcornpgticfr=ntyandin ltodttJii Fontltnro t9~OAppelli ~

2 CfKlllltbcrt930 iiiond tolinlt 1451 Thaltt Gltrmonic nmofthc dqtybull ~hcftl ttifi eImltnt dGoicjJimiddot icnhmiddotthltnlt ootmiddotgtltt~ middot middotmiddoterH onquer Gnkn E (H)pcrll pocltiltontbutworthponn The ntiltof tOIIolthcnltmiddotEo1 oiltllttlun ho yllltMgtnilt bullbullrbiXogtinHomncGlaquok Cf Vdmiddotop ibullbull omiddot

4 ) 71r~ G~fmltUic worid

then hept i5a~middot The second is that ampowulf and Grettisltaga come repectively at the beg inning and the end of heat tested Old Gemlanic heroic literaf)middottraditioo The two arc separaled by nearly600yealS (8th 10 14th century) yet they arc veryclosc (o each other perhaps idcntic~l in theme and message ie in ~mean ing It is a remarkable testimony to the tenacity of the Gemanic tradition

Perhaps the clearest e_idcnce for aCOOlmon Germanic (at any rate Wes t and NOllh Ge rmanic) dragonmiddotlaying myth arc the respec ti ve genealogies of the heroes Sigemund in 8rowulf and SigmundrmiddotS iguI~r (Siegfried) in Old NOIse

Wals i VQI~u ngr I----l----

middotSister ( ) Sigemund Sign) () Sigmundr=oI (the W[sing) I I Fitela(nrjaofSig) Sinmiddot fjQlli Sigurr

(d OHG PN IMHG SigfritJ (Sintarmiddot)Fizzi loJ

The identity orthe names and the ir reatiom the mythopoe ic incest motif(probably rewns tructible for Old Fnglish as well) all point unequivocally to a common Gcanic mythographic baokgrOllnd whether the dragolHlayer is Sigemund as in BrowuforhissonSigurllrS igfritasclsewhere lt iswiththis myth that wemaybegi n

Sigemunds exploit is narrated as pan of the victory song composed to celebrate B~wulfsvictoryoverGrendelg67ff) Inthisvictorysoogwehave a treasure house ofthemetalanguage of Old Germanic poetry Mindful orlays (gidda Ifydig)the poet found another poem truly bound (ie rightly alli terative] word6amprfandf sdJt Igtb~ndtnl (With the neuter plural word compare Gree k [1100) He began to vary words (wordu m wrLdanl as Klaeberputs it (ad 874) in the customary manner of Gcrrnanicpoetry andIOldofthcdccdOfSigemund

Sigemundegesprong reflerdcalxlge d6munljte1 Ylgtan w(ges heard wyrm cwealdc hordcs hyrde

ToSigemund came anerhs deathltJay nQJittle fam e since the ha ndy battJer killed a serpent the guardian ofa treasure

Great fame is expressed in the ancient figureoflitOles lite rally unlittle fame (ddm unljltf) like Greek uo oogtttov and Vedic cf4ii i rdvab imperishable fame com pare also with the same ~mantics Greek Iiya w~ and Vedic mtihi srcfves great fame And embedded in the phonetic figure hrard honks hyrtk we ftt)d

One of the tradi tional Old Fnglish dragOll slaying formulas wyrmdcwtalltk ~i[)ed the

3 Sc bull h SohmIII9(177Jrl

How 10 Kill Dragon

Gennanic ha ~o cognate of dhi aii iiltpu the word for wonn serpent dragon LS Olrl Englih )rm Old Norse ormr Old Saxon and Old High German wlIrm Gothic walltrm Germanic wurmiz exactly cognate with Latin uermis and preSlpposmg Indo-European ~lmS The word is a rhyme formation in IndoshyEumpean to krmis probably for reascms of tabu middotk(mis is found in Celtic Baltomiddot Slade Albanian and Indo-Iranian T~ usual meani~g ofkrmis is jus worm in

most lradLlions bllt in Middle IrltlniJl II is also the word for dragon compare the Pahlavi version of the familiar Indo-European formula klrm ozad bad had slam the dragon (chap 29) Therecan benOdoubt Ihat in ~rmislkrmis we have two variants of the same alternative designatioo of [he Indo_European mythological serpentshyadversary4

Old English here uses cwellan as the unmarked verb for killthe causative of ewelan die Indo-European gd(h)- Cuneifoll11 and HieroBlyphic Luvian walshydie Old Irislt at-baill dies Greek pillru thm The causative formation middotkwajarl anachronistically gol(h)-ije-- appears to be confined to Gennanic and its use in the dragon-slaying formula is apparently an innovation confined to Old English Beawulfumishes IWQ funber instances Ixlth precisely in that formula

1053-5 ondjJoneinncheht goldeforgyldan jlonejleGrende1r mlfneicweatdc

and h~ ordered the compensation tQ be paid

forlheonehomGrendelwickedlykiIled

pejgtlgystmnniilt Grendelcwealdest

(the fIght) Hvhich Y()II killed Qrendel last night

IllC lWO eli illustrate lhe inhent~d bldirectionality of the fon1ula

~--1

even where the le~lcal eJlpression Qf KILL has been renewed from IE ghM- to Germanic middotkwoijall Old English rwelan

Other verbs as well are woctated with the narration of dragon combat in Ixlth

4 Seefunhorbctow(chap56)onamrn 5 LikowixpngtpltrtoOtdEnglihilhomeorthebocoihdlOsooobject 11

edlWilteofGrcndelBu(famp45niJaQCUltnoofComltbyrhlt figh 127JfgtYfgtofond Qjrrcwonl Uten lie (Bwwulf) me he adcIl) SLnCC Grendel is only Ihe fir of Beowulf mOIlshytrollS odvcros we could in ofltn bctlt Ihe continuator of IE rhpjngigtephmi naryictoryofotlCoflhepltOlatooist bull 1Etn_hoimjj-mealngeompren laooVltaodre canonlylholHcklOrtoltgtwooapretimllvicl

6 ComparebcGrcdnvov~bel io 11ltme 00

The GerltUlllicworld

VI~ If vega

to fight the Wolf

and perish in tlteallempt BUl he will be avenged as lhe next stanza relates the mighty son of Sigfadir miNi mgr SighiJur (Victory-Father epithet of Odin) will come

vegaatvaldyre

tQ fight with the corpse-monster (the wolf Fffirir)

and spear him through the heart Formulaically note the same collocation of the verb and the epithet in Lokasenna 58 Loki taunts Thor that he will Qot dare fight with the wolf (vii) IiIfiIl1 vega) and tlte latter will swallow Odin (SidrllJur) The verb is found only once in Bwulj(2400) but in lhe identical context and again a prophecy of doom So he survived (g~nesan) every baale

oil Ooneanne d[eg pe he wiO ~arn wynne gewegansceolde

till that one dayvben he had to fight againsttJaterpent

OldNorscprovidesuswithapreciouspieceofevidenceforthechaltQelforthe renewal and replacement of IE ghen_ by other verbs ltke Germanilt cwaljan or middotwigan (middotWltrMall) which we can only pnsent now tbe explanaliotl will come in the pages immedialeIy following In the V(Jlundarhiila 33oneoflheoldestohIteEddic poems tlte smith VQJundr makes the King NiOur swear an oath by ships sidcl shields rim borses withers and swords edge at skips bordi ok at skiaidar rmd atmarsbdgi okatmakl$egg dearly traditional language Ship and horseshiekiand sword are together the warriors transport and arms compare the instruction in the Sanskrit laws of Manu (8 13) that the man of the warrior caste (lqatriya) must swear

How 10 Kill Dr80n

apuhelial hanYQ]undar nebnli5iminni atbanaverliir

tnt you will not kill VQlundrswife nor beltome tne nane (=ltkilier) of my bride

Here kvelja and the periphrasisal hana veri1a (on which see below) are semantically identical the Choiceofeachilt guvemedby the alliteration

Thr Old English nOUn bona (bana) Old Norse imni slayer killer is frequent in poetlc te~ts in both languages In Beowulf it is applied both to heroes and (0 monsters the dragon is the slbject Cf Grendel in 174] hona rw(i)e nlah a killer is very near 2082 hona blodigloJ the blwdy_toothed killer and of the Worm who killed Beowulf and was killed by him 2824 bona swylclt trg (hi) killer also la ydead In Old Norse the dragon is he object It is used twice with the dragon Fafnir as object once of the WEAPON and once of the HER07 GdpisJpd 15

hVQsgtosgtenii me1lbanaFMniJ

You will hew With sharp sword cur her byrnie wh Farni~s bQne (the w(led Gram)

Oddrlinarwar 11

iQr1ldualli ~ierbaniFMnia

Eanh and Up-Ileaven shook when F6foirs bane(Sigurirgt looked at (Brynhildrs) fortress

43 The Germanic world

onnseinbani uxahltgtf1li

The npents single bane (used ILl bait) the head of a~ o~

I KILL SERPE~ I

1330-1 WearlhimltgtnHeorote t6handbanan w lgfqwrHre

A wandering murderous sprite (Grendels mother) slew him in Heorot

vNb ~nd the potposed Lndermite subject who nltgtt

2078-9 himGre~delwerr(l mirum maguJegtl~ t6 mu~bonan

him the famous ~oung retainer Grendel slew by mQuth

The rft compound members hand- lIld ul)_ are fo a~literatioo Beowulf taunt Unferth

lin ro Kill a Dragan

peahliuplnumbr6ltlrum tdbananwurde

though you killed your brothers

and the same verb describes the pnmeval fratricide in

1261-2 sipllan Cain wearlgt t6eegbanan inganbrejgter

since Cain killed his only brother by the sword

and the death ofHygelacs son in

2202-3 ondHeardride hildemeceas under bordhrcotlan td bonan wurdon

and baltle-~words killed Heardrede under shield-covering

After Heardredemiddots death Beowulf1egitimately succeeded to the kingship of the Geats

460 wear(l1llt Hc$olife 10 handbonan

He (Boowulfs father) slew Heatholaf

s)Man ie for dugelium Dghrefne wear tohandbonan Hllgacempan

since f (Beowulf) in the presence ofthe hosts slew Dghrefne champion oflhe Franb

From the Old NOIse Fome Edda we may cite the following Of dragons

(Gdpissd II)middot

pu mum biOom at banaverCa ReginokFMni

You will slay both Reginn and Fafnir

OfbrotheN (Reginsmdl 5)middot

atbwtaveamp

to slay the two brothers

HdgakvdJa Hundingsbana U6 (a taunt as In Bewulf587 above)

41 The Germanicorid

(puhefir jbrollrprnom Iyenlbanaorllit

you have sJainyour brother

And finally Odins question and the witchmiddots aIlswer in Baldrs Drallmor 8-9

hverrmanBaldri albanaverl)a

hann man Baldrietc

Who will slay Baldr He(BaldrblindbrotherHoIlr)willecc

In Old High German note only fhe single but telling example of he periphrasis of tragic adversaries doomed to an ineluctable conflict Hildebrand says of his son HadubraIld who does nOt recognize his father (Hildebrandslied 54)

eddoihimotibaninwerdari

orf (hall) kiil him

The construction is finally found in Old Sa~on ChrisfiaIl poetry as well forexamples see the work ofRoemarie Luhr cited below

Old Norse knows another periphrasis with he same word bani in tbe same meaningmiddot slay ban(ajollJ bera af(+dative) literally bring the killer( 5) word from the death messagemiddot The expression is explained by Gering sv as derived from he legal obligation of a murderer to acknowledge hirnselfas such IO

Compare FafniltmaI39 or R~ginn skuli I miff ~~ra that Reginn should slay me Landmfmabdk Iv 17 (the forgemiddotsong of Ihesmilh VQlundr)

afellifu BMstu meirr~

f killed eleven alone Blow harder

toOnomlghllsohowevuginadiretydtnorthoaccfkithngiltflltinglbe OXlt 111 age tn RV SIOlJ the miU onlitn and V called I11ltiT will n8middot ajjr dlliltiJThcmiddotwiflmcngltrmiddotifonnulaioinVedcdlildajlrdRVto982a~dSIdmajirdmJ981t igtalsoiGreknq~~att5j26rdlcllySppOO443lmiddotPwhci[iinfinaJintlgtltame

triotlot lhatocupidbyrlialt6cpdttovinlho ti ScoontholtloNagyl974lt7 Gk iiriltJolt middotmeengemiddot Itogt an ltlymologr old w IU il wilh Vedit 01lt1lt wift lbe trnsferred pifflell Amelttnilprefonnhflghiowdllaquoounlfwboth For OlIamp of thlt rneJ epilltol intymologyoochp12

ItCltdfromGordot949IJ4 For thI0ioid294 No 01gt0 theeliamOmem whlth pernimiddotmiddotcalmiddotmiddot well -horizoImiddotatlil i bullbull linkageinbmiddotdllllt-lrhhmiddotmiddotym(bycon1ltllIl

da)lt ei

i

C~IJort w~ts

43

The Germanic world

I Myth and Hero

The earliest Gennanic literature O ld English Old High German Old Saxon and Old Nor~ knows a great many combats between heroes and dragons or heroic dversar ie5 epica l conflicts which have continued to seile popular imagination from the Dark Ages right down 10 the 19th and 20Ih centuries in Ihe spone wlhe operas ofRichard Wagner the still unabated vogue uflhe li terary creations of lhe di stinguished philologist J R R Talkien and the immense success of the game Dungeons and Dragon The themes of all theM epic poems and tales have been repeatedly studied c3taloguedandanalyzedbyphilologistandfolklori talikeandlheirimilarity to the themes or Greek Indibull arid OIhu legendltlry material has been noIed since the 19th cemury The thematic imilari ties m~y be presumed as given our concern he re is l~ngu3ge

A number of verbal parallels among the various Germmic dragon-slaying legends have been adduced which prove by the tenets of the com parative method thattheyvegcneticallyreatedandcommoninheritance Suchistheremarkabeand methodologically indispensable agreement in what Meinet (192~J) would term the cri tical deurot ail singu li er the hfptmiddotsax hilled knife WEAPON ofGiant adve rsary in the GlyenlIissalia (sect66) and a hapax in Old Norse and the haftmiddotmiu hilled sword Hrunting Which Unfenh lomcd to Beowulf ( 14~ 7) and which was useless against Grendels mo ther( I~ 23 bilan noldr would not bite) l1e equationof the compounds is nOlable for tWO reasons The first is that both conte ~ts refer to the antiquity of the weapon 8rowulfl458 dn foran ~aldgr5triono foremos t of the anc ient treasures Grrttissaga ~66 metali ngu istically asptll kolluu mrnpa hqtisax such men called

I Comparlt lgtibliophyinKladgtltrt95() thpo f ciOlionis iltTolkiltnI938 ForutnlGltrmaniltcornpgticfr=ntyandin ltodttJii Fontltnro t9~OAppelli ~

2 CfKlllltbcrt930 iiiond tolinlt 1451 Thaltt Gltrmonic nmofthc dqtybull ~hcftl ttifi eImltnt dGoicjJimiddot icnhmiddotthltnlt ootmiddotgtltt~ middot middotmiddoterH onquer Gnkn E (H)pcrll pocltiltontbutworthponn The ntiltof tOIIolthcnltmiddotEo1 oiltllttlun ho yllltMgtnilt bullbullrbiXogtinHomncGlaquok Cf Vdmiddotop ibullbull omiddot

4 ) 71r~ G~fmltUic worid

then hept i5a~middot The second is that ampowulf and Grettisltaga come repectively at the beg inning and the end of heat tested Old Gemlanic heroic literaf)middottraditioo The two arc separaled by nearly600yealS (8th 10 14th century) yet they arc veryclosc (o each other perhaps idcntic~l in theme and message ie in ~mean ing It is a remarkable testimony to the tenacity of the Gemanic tradition

Perhaps the clearest e_idcnce for aCOOlmon Germanic (at any rate Wes t and NOllh Ge rmanic) dragonmiddotlaying myth arc the respec ti ve genealogies of the heroes Sigemund in 8rowulf and SigmundrmiddotS iguI~r (Siegfried) in Old NOIse

Wals i VQI~u ngr I----l----

middotSister ( ) Sigemund Sign) () Sigmundr=oI (the W[sing) I I Fitela(nrjaofSig) Sinmiddot fjQlli Sigurr

(d OHG PN IMHG SigfritJ (Sintarmiddot)Fizzi loJ

The identity orthe names and the ir reatiom the mythopoe ic incest motif(probably rewns tructible for Old Fnglish as well) all point unequivocally to a common Gcanic mythographic baokgrOllnd whether the dragolHlayer is Sigemund as in BrowuforhissonSigurllrS igfritasclsewhere lt iswiththis myth that wemaybegi n

Sigemunds exploit is narrated as pan of the victory song composed to celebrate B~wulfsvictoryoverGrendelg67ff) Inthisvictorysoogwehave a treasure house ofthemetalanguage of Old Germanic poetry Mindful orlays (gidda Ifydig)the poet found another poem truly bound (ie rightly alli terative] word6amprfandf sdJt Igtb~ndtnl (With the neuter plural word compare Gree k [1100) He began to vary words (wordu m wrLdanl as Klaeberputs it (ad 874) in the customary manner of Gcrrnanicpoetry andIOldofthcdccdOfSigemund

Sigemundegesprong reflerdcalxlge d6munljte1 Ylgtan w(ges heard wyrm cwealdc hordcs hyrde

ToSigemund came anerhs deathltJay nQJittle fam e since the ha ndy battJer killed a serpent the guardian ofa treasure

Great fame is expressed in the ancient figureoflitOles lite rally unlittle fame (ddm unljltf) like Greek uo oogtttov and Vedic cf4ii i rdvab imperishable fame com pare also with the same ~mantics Greek Iiya w~ and Vedic mtihi srcfves great fame And embedded in the phonetic figure hrard honks hyrtk we ftt)d

One of the tradi tional Old Fnglish dragOll slaying formulas wyrmdcwtalltk ~i[)ed the

3 Sc bull h SohmIII9(177Jrl

How 10 Kill Dragon

Gennanic ha ~o cognate of dhi aii iiltpu the word for wonn serpent dragon LS Olrl Englih )rm Old Norse ormr Old Saxon and Old High German wlIrm Gothic walltrm Germanic wurmiz exactly cognate with Latin uermis and preSlpposmg Indo-European ~lmS The word is a rhyme formation in IndoshyEumpean to krmis probably for reascms of tabu middotk(mis is found in Celtic Baltomiddot Slade Albanian and Indo-Iranian T~ usual meani~g ofkrmis is jus worm in

most lradLlions bllt in Middle IrltlniJl II is also the word for dragon compare the Pahlavi version of the familiar Indo-European formula klrm ozad bad had slam the dragon (chap 29) Therecan benOdoubt Ihat in ~rmislkrmis we have two variants of the same alternative designatioo of [he Indo_European mythological serpentshyadversary4

Old English here uses cwellan as the unmarked verb for killthe causative of ewelan die Indo-European gd(h)- Cuneifoll11 and HieroBlyphic Luvian walshydie Old Irislt at-baill dies Greek pillru thm The causative formation middotkwajarl anachronistically gol(h)-ije-- appears to be confined to Gennanic and its use in the dragon-slaying formula is apparently an innovation confined to Old English Beawulfumishes IWQ funber instances Ixlth precisely in that formula

1053-5 ondjJoneinncheht goldeforgyldan jlonejleGrende1r mlfneicweatdc

and h~ ordered the compensation tQ be paid

forlheonehomGrendelwickedlykiIled

pejgtlgystmnniilt Grendelcwealdest

(the fIght) Hvhich Y()II killed Qrendel last night

IllC lWO eli illustrate lhe inhent~d bldirectionality of the fon1ula

~--1

even where the le~lcal eJlpression Qf KILL has been renewed from IE ghM- to Germanic middotkwoijall Old English rwelan

Other verbs as well are woctated with the narration of dragon combat in Ixlth

4 Seefunhorbctow(chap56)onamrn 5 LikowixpngtpltrtoOtdEnglihilhomeorthebocoihdlOsooobject 11

edlWilteofGrcndelBu(famp45niJaQCUltnoofComltbyrhlt figh 127JfgtYfgtofond Qjrrcwonl Uten lie (Bwwulf) me he adcIl) SLnCC Grendel is only Ihe fir of Beowulf mOIlshytrollS odvcros we could in ofltn bctlt Ihe continuator of IE rhpjngigtephmi naryictoryofotlCoflhepltOlatooist bull 1Etn_hoimjj-mealngeompren laooVltaodre canonlylholHcklOrtoltgtwooapretimllvicl

6 ComparebcGrcdnvov~bel io 11ltme 00

The GerltUlllicworld

VI~ If vega

to fight the Wolf

and perish in tlteallempt BUl he will be avenged as lhe next stanza relates the mighty son of Sigfadir miNi mgr SighiJur (Victory-Father epithet of Odin) will come

vegaatvaldyre

tQ fight with the corpse-monster (the wolf Fffirir)

and spear him through the heart Formulaically note the same collocation of the verb and the epithet in Lokasenna 58 Loki taunts Thor that he will Qot dare fight with the wolf (vii) IiIfiIl1 vega) and tlte latter will swallow Odin (SidrllJur) The verb is found only once in Bwulj(2400) but in lhe identical context and again a prophecy of doom So he survived (g~nesan) every baale

oil Ooneanne d[eg pe he wiO ~arn wynne gewegansceolde

till that one dayvben he had to fight againsttJaterpent

OldNorscprovidesuswithapreciouspieceofevidenceforthechaltQelforthe renewal and replacement of IE ghen_ by other verbs ltke Germanilt cwaljan or middotwigan (middotWltrMall) which we can only pnsent now tbe explanaliotl will come in the pages immedialeIy following In the V(Jlundarhiila 33oneoflheoldestohIteEddic poems tlte smith VQJundr makes the King NiOur swear an oath by ships sidcl shields rim borses withers and swords edge at skips bordi ok at skiaidar rmd atmarsbdgi okatmakl$egg dearly traditional language Ship and horseshiekiand sword are together the warriors transport and arms compare the instruction in the Sanskrit laws of Manu (8 13) that the man of the warrior caste (lqatriya) must swear

How 10 Kill Dr80n

apuhelial hanYQ]undar nebnli5iminni atbanaverliir

tnt you will not kill VQlundrswife nor beltome tne nane (=ltkilier) of my bride

Here kvelja and the periphrasisal hana veri1a (on which see below) are semantically identical the Choiceofeachilt guvemedby the alliteration

Thr Old English nOUn bona (bana) Old Norse imni slayer killer is frequent in poetlc te~ts in both languages In Beowulf it is applied both to heroes and (0 monsters the dragon is the slbject Cf Grendel in 174] hona rw(i)e nlah a killer is very near 2082 hona blodigloJ the blwdy_toothed killer and of the Worm who killed Beowulf and was killed by him 2824 bona swylclt trg (hi) killer also la ydead In Old Norse the dragon is he object It is used twice with the dragon Fafnir as object once of the WEAPON and once of the HER07 GdpisJpd 15

hVQsgtosgtenii me1lbanaFMniJ

You will hew With sharp sword cur her byrnie wh Farni~s bQne (the w(led Gram)

Oddrlinarwar 11

iQr1ldualli ~ierbaniFMnia

Eanh and Up-Ileaven shook when F6foirs bane(Sigurirgt looked at (Brynhildrs) fortress

43 The Germanic world

onnseinbani uxahltgtf1li

The npents single bane (used ILl bait) the head of a~ o~

I KILL SERPE~ I

1330-1 WearlhimltgtnHeorote t6handbanan w lgfqwrHre

A wandering murderous sprite (Grendels mother) slew him in Heorot

vNb ~nd the potposed Lndermite subject who nltgtt

2078-9 himGre~delwerr(l mirum maguJegtl~ t6 mu~bonan

him the famous ~oung retainer Grendel slew by mQuth

The rft compound members hand- lIld ul)_ are fo a~literatioo Beowulf taunt Unferth

lin ro Kill a Dragan

peahliuplnumbr6ltlrum tdbananwurde

though you killed your brothers

and the same verb describes the pnmeval fratricide in

1261-2 sipllan Cain wearlgt t6eegbanan inganbrejgter

since Cain killed his only brother by the sword

and the death ofHygelacs son in

2202-3 ondHeardride hildemeceas under bordhrcotlan td bonan wurdon

and baltle-~words killed Heardrede under shield-covering

After Heardredemiddots death Beowulf1egitimately succeeded to the kingship of the Geats

460 wear(l1llt Hc$olife 10 handbonan

He (Boowulfs father) slew Heatholaf

s)Man ie for dugelium Dghrefne wear tohandbonan Hllgacempan

since f (Beowulf) in the presence ofthe hosts slew Dghrefne champion oflhe Franb

From the Old NOIse Fome Edda we may cite the following Of dragons

(Gdpissd II)middot

pu mum biOom at banaverCa ReginokFMni

You will slay both Reginn and Fafnir

OfbrotheN (Reginsmdl 5)middot

atbwtaveamp

to slay the two brothers

HdgakvdJa Hundingsbana U6 (a taunt as In Bewulf587 above)

41 The Germanicorid

(puhefir jbrollrprnom Iyenlbanaorllit

you have sJainyour brother

And finally Odins question and the witchmiddots aIlswer in Baldrs Drallmor 8-9

hverrmanBaldri albanaverl)a

hann man Baldrietc

Who will slay Baldr He(BaldrblindbrotherHoIlr)willecc

In Old High German note only fhe single but telling example of he periphrasis of tragic adversaries doomed to an ineluctable conflict Hildebrand says of his son HadubraIld who does nOt recognize his father (Hildebrandslied 54)

eddoihimotibaninwerdari

orf (hall) kiil him

The construction is finally found in Old Sa~on ChrisfiaIl poetry as well forexamples see the work ofRoemarie Luhr cited below

Old Norse knows another periphrasis with he same word bani in tbe same meaningmiddot slay ban(ajollJ bera af(+dative) literally bring the killer( 5) word from the death messagemiddot The expression is explained by Gering sv as derived from he legal obligation of a murderer to acknowledge hirnselfas such IO

Compare FafniltmaI39 or R~ginn skuli I miff ~~ra that Reginn should slay me Landmfmabdk Iv 17 (the forgemiddotsong of Ihesmilh VQlundr)

afellifu BMstu meirr~

f killed eleven alone Blow harder

toOnomlghllsohowevuginadiretydtnorthoaccfkithngiltflltinglbe OXlt 111 age tn RV SIOlJ the miU onlitn and V called I11ltiT will n8middot ajjr dlliltiJThcmiddotwiflmcngltrmiddotifonnulaioinVedcdlildajlrdRVto982a~dSIdmajirdmJ981t igtalsoiGreknq~~att5j26rdlcllySppOO443lmiddotPwhci[iinfinaJintlgtltame

triotlot lhatocupidbyrlialt6cpdttovinlho ti ScoontholtloNagyl974lt7 Gk iiriltJolt middotmeengemiddot Itogt an ltlymologr old w IU il wilh Vedit 01lt1lt wift lbe trnsferred pifflell Amelttnilprefonnhflghiowdllaquoounlfwboth For OlIamp of thlt rneJ epilltol intymologyoochp12

ItCltdfromGordot949IJ4 For thI0ioid294 No 01gt0 theeliamOmem whlth pernimiddotmiddotcalmiddotmiddot well -horizoImiddotatlil i bullbull linkageinbmiddotdllllt-lrhhmiddotmiddotym(bycon1ltllIl

da)lt ei

C~IJort w~ts

43

The Germanic world

I Myth and Hero

The earliest Gennanic literature O ld English Old High German Old Saxon and Old Nor~ knows a great many combats between heroes and dragons or heroic dversar ie5 epica l conflicts which have continued to seile popular imagination from the Dark Ages right down 10 the 19th and 20Ih centuries in Ihe spone wlhe operas ofRichard Wagner the still unabated vogue uflhe li terary creations of lhe di stinguished philologist J R R Talkien and the immense success of the game Dungeons and Dragon The themes of all theM epic poems and tales have been repeatedly studied c3taloguedandanalyzedbyphilologistandfolklori talikeandlheirimilarity to the themes or Greek Indibull arid OIhu legendltlry material has been noIed since the 19th cemury The thematic imilari ties m~y be presumed as given our concern he re is l~ngu3ge

A number of verbal parallels among the various Germmic dragon-slaying legends have been adduced which prove by the tenets of the com parative method thattheyvegcneticallyreatedandcommoninheritance Suchistheremarkabeand methodologically indispensable agreement in what Meinet (192~J) would term the cri tical deurot ail singu li er the hfptmiddotsax hilled knife WEAPON ofGiant adve rsary in the GlyenlIissalia (sect66) and a hapax in Old Norse and the haftmiddotmiu hilled sword Hrunting Which Unfenh lomcd to Beowulf ( 14~ 7) and which was useless against Grendels mo ther( I~ 23 bilan noldr would not bite) l1e equationof the compounds is nOlable for tWO reasons The first is that both conte ~ts refer to the antiquity of the weapon 8rowulfl458 dn foran ~aldgr5triono foremos t of the anc ient treasures Grrttissaga ~66 metali ngu istically asptll kolluu mrnpa hqtisax such men called

I Comparlt lgtibliophyinKladgtltrt95() thpo f ciOlionis iltTolkiltnI938 ForutnlGltrmaniltcornpgticfr=ntyandin ltodttJii Fontltnro t9~OAppelli ~

2 CfKlllltbcrt930 iiiond tolinlt 1451 Thaltt Gltrmonic nmofthc dqtybull ~hcftl ttifi eImltnt dGoicjJimiddot icnhmiddotthltnlt ootmiddotgtltt~ middot middotmiddoterH onquer Gnkn E (H)pcrll pocltiltontbutworthponn The ntiltof tOIIolthcnltmiddotEo1 oiltllttlun ho yllltMgtnilt bullbullrbiXogtinHomncGlaquok Cf Vdmiddotop ibullbull omiddot

4 ) 71r~ G~fmltUic worid

then hept i5a~middot The second is that ampowulf and Grettisltaga come repectively at the beg inning and the end of heat tested Old Gemlanic heroic literaf)middottraditioo The two arc separaled by nearly600yealS (8th 10 14th century) yet they arc veryclosc (o each other perhaps idcntic~l in theme and message ie in ~mean ing It is a remarkable testimony to the tenacity of the Gemanic tradition

Perhaps the clearest e_idcnce for aCOOlmon Germanic (at any rate Wes t and NOllh Ge rmanic) dragonmiddotlaying myth arc the respec ti ve genealogies of the heroes Sigemund in 8rowulf and SigmundrmiddotS iguI~r (Siegfried) in Old NOIse

Wals i VQI~u ngr I----l----

middotSister ( ) Sigemund Sign) () Sigmundr=oI (the W[sing) I I Fitela(nrjaofSig) Sinmiddot fjQlli Sigurr

(d OHG PN IMHG SigfritJ (Sintarmiddot)Fizzi loJ

The identity orthe names and the ir reatiom the mythopoe ic incest motif(probably rewns tructible for Old Fnglish as well) all point unequivocally to a common Gcanic mythographic baokgrOllnd whether the dragolHlayer is Sigemund as in BrowuforhissonSigurllrS igfritasclsewhere lt iswiththis myth that wemaybegi n

Sigemunds exploit is narrated as pan of the victory song composed to celebrate B~wulfsvictoryoverGrendelg67ff) Inthisvictorysoogwehave a treasure house ofthemetalanguage of Old Germanic poetry Mindful orlays (gidda Ifydig)the poet found another poem truly bound (ie rightly alli terative] word6amprfandf sdJt Igtb~ndtnl (With the neuter plural word compare Gree k [1100) He began to vary words (wordu m wrLdanl as Klaeberputs it (ad 874) in the customary manner of Gcrrnanicpoetry andIOldofthcdccdOfSigemund

Sigemundegesprong reflerdcalxlge d6munljte1 Ylgtan w(ges heard wyrm cwealdc hordcs hyrde

ToSigemund came anerhs deathltJay nQJittle fam e since the ha ndy battJer killed a serpent the guardian ofa treasure

Great fame is expressed in the ancient figureoflitOles lite rally unlittle fame (ddm unljltf) like Greek uo oogtttov and Vedic cf4ii i rdvab imperishable fame com pare also with the same ~mantics Greek Iiya w~ and Vedic mtihi srcfves great fame And embedded in the phonetic figure hrard honks hyrtk we ftt)d

One of the tradi tional Old Fnglish dragOll slaying formulas wyrmdcwtalltk ~i[)ed the

3 Sc bull h SohmIII9(177Jrl

How 10 Kill Dragon

Gennanic ha ~o cognate of dhi aii iiltpu the word for wonn serpent dragon LS Olrl Englih )rm Old Norse ormr Old Saxon and Old High German wlIrm Gothic walltrm Germanic wurmiz exactly cognate with Latin uermis and preSlpposmg Indo-European ~lmS The word is a rhyme formation in IndoshyEumpean to krmis probably for reascms of tabu middotk(mis is found in Celtic Baltomiddot Slade Albanian and Indo-Iranian T~ usual meani~g ofkrmis is jus worm in

most lradLlions bllt in Middle IrltlniJl II is also the word for dragon compare the Pahlavi version of the familiar Indo-European formula klrm ozad bad had slam the dragon (chap 29) Therecan benOdoubt Ihat in ~rmislkrmis we have two variants of the same alternative designatioo of [he Indo_European mythological serpentshyadversary4

Old English here uses cwellan as the unmarked verb for killthe causative of ewelan die Indo-European gd(h)- Cuneifoll11 and HieroBlyphic Luvian walshydie Old Irislt at-baill dies Greek pillru thm The causative formation middotkwajarl anachronistically gol(h)-ije-- appears to be confined to Gennanic and its use in the dragon-slaying formula is apparently an innovation confined to Old English Beawulfumishes IWQ funber instances Ixlth precisely in that formula

1053-5 ondjJoneinncheht goldeforgyldan jlonejleGrende1r mlfneicweatdc

and h~ ordered the compensation tQ be paid

forlheonehomGrendelwickedlykiIled

pejgtlgystmnniilt Grendelcwealdest

(the fIght) Hvhich Y()II killed Qrendel last night

IllC lWO eli illustrate lhe inhent~d bldirectionality of the fon1ula

~--1

even where the le~lcal eJlpression Qf KILL has been renewed from IE ghM- to Germanic middotkwoijall Old English rwelan

Other verbs as well are woctated with the narration of dragon combat in Ixlth

4 Seefunhorbctow(chap56)onamrn 5 LikowixpngtpltrtoOtdEnglihilhomeorthebocoihdlOsooobject 11

edlWilteofGrcndelBu(famp45niJaQCUltnoofComltbyrhlt figh 127JfgtYfgtofond Qjrrcwonl Uten lie (Bwwulf) me he adcIl) SLnCC Grendel is only Ihe fir of Beowulf mOIlshytrollS odvcros we could in ofltn bctlt Ihe continuator of IE rhpjngigtephmi naryictoryofotlCoflhepltOlatooist bull 1Etn_hoimjj-mealngeompren laooVltaodre canonlylholHcklOrtoltgtwooapretimllvicl

6 ComparebcGrcdnvov~bel io 11ltme 00

The GerltUlllicworld

VI~ If vega

to fight the Wolf

and perish in tlteallempt BUl he will be avenged as lhe next stanza relates the mighty son of Sigfadir miNi mgr SighiJur (Victory-Father epithet of Odin) will come

vegaatvaldyre

tQ fight with the corpse-monster (the wolf Fffirir)

and spear him through the heart Formulaically note the same collocation of the verb and the epithet in Lokasenna 58 Loki taunts Thor that he will Qot dare fight with the wolf (vii) IiIfiIl1 vega) and tlte latter will swallow Odin (SidrllJur) The verb is found only once in Bwulj(2400) but in lhe identical context and again a prophecy of doom So he survived (g~nesan) every baale

oil Ooneanne d[eg pe he wiO ~arn wynne gewegansceolde

till that one dayvben he had to fight againsttJaterpent

OldNorscprovidesuswithapreciouspieceofevidenceforthechaltQelforthe renewal and replacement of IE ghen_ by other verbs ltke Germanilt cwaljan or middotwigan (middotWltrMall) which we can only pnsent now tbe explanaliotl will come in the pages immedialeIy following In the V(Jlundarhiila 33oneoflheoldestohIteEddic poems tlte smith VQJundr makes the King NiOur swear an oath by ships sidcl shields rim borses withers and swords edge at skips bordi ok at skiaidar rmd atmarsbdgi okatmakl$egg dearly traditional language Ship and horseshiekiand sword are together the warriors transport and arms compare the instruction in the Sanskrit laws of Manu (8 13) that the man of the warrior caste (lqatriya) must swear

How 10 Kill Dr80n

apuhelial hanYQ]undar nebnli5iminni atbanaverliir

tnt you will not kill VQlundrswife nor beltome tne nane (=ltkilier) of my bride

Here kvelja and the periphrasisal hana veri1a (on which see below) are semantically identical the Choiceofeachilt guvemedby the alliteration

Thr Old English nOUn bona (bana) Old Norse imni slayer killer is frequent in poetlc te~ts in both languages In Beowulf it is applied both to heroes and (0 monsters the dragon is the slbject Cf Grendel in 174] hona rw(i)e nlah a killer is very near 2082 hona blodigloJ the blwdy_toothed killer and of the Worm who killed Beowulf and was killed by him 2824 bona swylclt trg (hi) killer also la ydead In Old Norse the dragon is he object It is used twice with the dragon Fafnir as object once of the WEAPON and once of the HER07 GdpisJpd 15

hVQsgtosgtenii me1lbanaFMniJ

You will hew With sharp sword cur her byrnie wh Farni~s bQne (the w(led Gram)

Oddrlinarwar 11

iQr1ldualli ~ierbaniFMnia

Eanh and Up-Ileaven shook when F6foirs bane(Sigurirgt looked at (Brynhildrs) fortress

43 The Germanic world

onnseinbani uxahltgtf1li

The npents single bane (used ILl bait) the head of a~ o~

I KILL SERPE~ I

1330-1 WearlhimltgtnHeorote t6handbanan w lgfqwrHre

A wandering murderous sprite (Grendels mother) slew him in Heorot

vNb ~nd the potposed Lndermite subject who nltgtt

2078-9 himGre~delwerr(l mirum maguJegtl~ t6 mu~bonan

him the famous ~oung retainer Grendel slew by mQuth

The rft compound members hand- lIld ul)_ are fo a~literatioo Beowulf taunt Unferth

lin ro Kill a Dragan

peahliuplnumbr6ltlrum tdbananwurde

though you killed your brothers

and the same verb describes the pnmeval fratricide in

1261-2 sipllan Cain wearlgt t6eegbanan inganbrejgter

since Cain killed his only brother by the sword

and the death ofHygelacs son in

2202-3 ondHeardride hildemeceas under bordhrcotlan td bonan wurdon

and baltle-~words killed Heardrede under shield-covering

After Heardredemiddots death Beowulf1egitimately succeeded to the kingship of the Geats

460 wear(l1llt Hc$olife 10 handbonan

He (Boowulfs father) slew Heatholaf

s)Man ie for dugelium Dghrefne wear tohandbonan Hllgacempan

since f (Beowulf) in the presence ofthe hosts slew Dghrefne champion oflhe Franb

From the Old NOIse Fome Edda we may cite the following Of dragons

(Gdpissd II)middot

pu mum biOom at banaverCa ReginokFMni

You will slay both Reginn and Fafnir

OfbrotheN (Reginsmdl 5)middot

atbwtaveamp

to slay the two brothers

HdgakvdJa Hundingsbana U6 (a taunt as In Bewulf587 above)

41 The Germanicorid

(puhefir jbrollrprnom Iyenlbanaorllit

you have sJainyour brother

And finally Odins question and the witchmiddots aIlswer in Baldrs Drallmor 8-9

hverrmanBaldri albanaverl)a

hann man Baldrietc

Who will slay Baldr He(BaldrblindbrotherHoIlr)willecc

In Old High German note only fhe single but telling example of he periphrasis of tragic adversaries doomed to an ineluctable conflict Hildebrand says of his son HadubraIld who does nOt recognize his father (Hildebrandslied 54)

eddoihimotibaninwerdari

orf (hall) kiil him

The construction is finally found in Old Sa~on ChrisfiaIl poetry as well forexamples see the work ofRoemarie Luhr cited below

Old Norse knows another periphrasis with he same word bani in tbe same meaningmiddot slay ban(ajollJ bera af(+dative) literally bring the killer( 5) word from the death messagemiddot The expression is explained by Gering sv as derived from he legal obligation of a murderer to acknowledge hirnselfas such IO

Compare FafniltmaI39 or R~ginn skuli I miff ~~ra that Reginn should slay me Landmfmabdk Iv 17 (the forgemiddotsong of Ihesmilh VQlundr)

afellifu BMstu meirr~

f killed eleven alone Blow harder

toOnomlghllsohowevuginadiretydtnorthoaccfkithngiltflltinglbe OXlt 111 age tn RV SIOlJ the miU onlitn and V called I11ltiT will n8middot ajjr dlliltiJThcmiddotwiflmcngltrmiddotifonnulaioinVedcdlildajlrdRVto982a~dSIdmajirdmJ981t igtalsoiGreknq~~att5j26rdlcllySppOO443lmiddotPwhci[iinfinaJintlgtltame

triotlot lhatocupidbyrlialt6cpdttovinlho ti ScoontholtloNagyl974lt7 Gk iiriltJolt middotmeengemiddot Itogt an ltlymologr old w IU il wilh Vedit 01lt1lt wift lbe trnsferred pifflell Amelttnilprefonnhflghiowdllaquoounlfwboth For OlIamp of thlt rneJ epilltol intymologyoochp12

ItCltdfromGordot949IJ4 For thI0ioid294 No 01gt0 theeliamOmem whlth pernimiddotmiddotcalmiddotmiddot well -horizoImiddotatlil i bullbull linkageinbmiddotdllllt-lrhhmiddotmiddotym(bycon1ltllIl

da)lt ei

How 10 Kill Dragon

Gennanic ha ~o cognate of dhi aii iiltpu the word for wonn serpent dragon LS Olrl Englih )rm Old Norse ormr Old Saxon and Old High German wlIrm Gothic walltrm Germanic wurmiz exactly cognate with Latin uermis and preSlpposmg Indo-European ~lmS The word is a rhyme formation in IndoshyEumpean to krmis probably for reascms of tabu middotk(mis is found in Celtic Baltomiddot Slade Albanian and Indo-Iranian T~ usual meani~g ofkrmis is jus worm in

most lradLlions bllt in Middle IrltlniJl II is also the word for dragon compare the Pahlavi version of the familiar Indo-European formula klrm ozad bad had slam the dragon (chap 29) Therecan benOdoubt Ihat in ~rmislkrmis we have two variants of the same alternative designatioo of [he Indo_European mythological serpentshyadversary4

Old English here uses cwellan as the unmarked verb for killthe causative of ewelan die Indo-European gd(h)- Cuneifoll11 and HieroBlyphic Luvian walshydie Old Irislt at-baill dies Greek pillru thm The causative formation middotkwajarl anachronistically gol(h)-ije-- appears to be confined to Gennanic and its use in the dragon-slaying formula is apparently an innovation confined to Old English Beawulfumishes IWQ funber instances Ixlth precisely in that formula

1053-5 ondjJoneinncheht goldeforgyldan jlonejleGrende1r mlfneicweatdc

and h~ ordered the compensation tQ be paid

forlheonehomGrendelwickedlykiIled

pejgtlgystmnniilt Grendelcwealdest

(the fIght) Hvhich Y()II killed Qrendel last night

IllC lWO eli illustrate lhe inhent~d bldirectionality of the fon1ula

~--1

even where the le~lcal eJlpression Qf KILL has been renewed from IE ghM- to Germanic middotkwoijall Old English rwelan

Other verbs as well are woctated with the narration of dragon combat in Ixlth

4 Seefunhorbctow(chap56)onamrn 5 LikowixpngtpltrtoOtdEnglihilhomeorthebocoihdlOsooobject 11

edlWilteofGrcndelBu(famp45niJaQCUltnoofComltbyrhlt figh 127JfgtYfgtofond Qjrrcwonl Uten lie (Bwwulf) me he adcIl) SLnCC Grendel is only Ihe fir of Beowulf mOIlshytrollS odvcros we could in ofltn bctlt Ihe continuator of IE rhpjngigtephmi naryictoryofotlCoflhepltOlatooist bull 1Etn_hoimjj-mealngeompren laooVltaodre canonlylholHcklOrtoltgtwooapretimllvicl

6 ComparebcGrcdnvov~bel io 11ltme 00

The GerltUlllicworld

VI~ If vega

to fight the Wolf

and perish in tlteallempt BUl he will be avenged as lhe next stanza relates the mighty son of Sigfadir miNi mgr SighiJur (Victory-Father epithet of Odin) will come

vegaatvaldyre

tQ fight with the corpse-monster (the wolf Fffirir)

and spear him through the heart Formulaically note the same collocation of the verb and the epithet in Lokasenna 58 Loki taunts Thor that he will Qot dare fight with the wolf (vii) IiIfiIl1 vega) and tlte latter will swallow Odin (SidrllJur) The verb is found only once in Bwulj(2400) but in lhe identical context and again a prophecy of doom So he survived (g~nesan) every baale

oil Ooneanne d[eg pe he wiO ~arn wynne gewegansceolde

till that one dayvben he had to fight againsttJaterpent

OldNorscprovidesuswithapreciouspieceofevidenceforthechaltQelforthe renewal and replacement of IE ghen_ by other verbs ltke Germanilt cwaljan or middotwigan (middotWltrMall) which we can only pnsent now tbe explanaliotl will come in the pages immedialeIy following In the V(Jlundarhiila 33oneoflheoldestohIteEddic poems tlte smith VQJundr makes the King NiOur swear an oath by ships sidcl shields rim borses withers and swords edge at skips bordi ok at skiaidar rmd atmarsbdgi okatmakl$egg dearly traditional language Ship and horseshiekiand sword are together the warriors transport and arms compare the instruction in the Sanskrit laws of Manu (8 13) that the man of the warrior caste (lqatriya) must swear

How 10 Kill Dr80n

apuhelial hanYQ]undar nebnli5iminni atbanaverliir

tnt you will not kill VQlundrswife nor beltome tne nane (=ltkilier) of my bride

Here kvelja and the periphrasisal hana veri1a (on which see below) are semantically identical the Choiceofeachilt guvemedby the alliteration

Thr Old English nOUn bona (bana) Old Norse imni slayer killer is frequent in poetlc te~ts in both languages In Beowulf it is applied both to heroes and (0 monsters the dragon is the slbject Cf Grendel in 174] hona rw(i)e nlah a killer is very near 2082 hona blodigloJ the blwdy_toothed killer and of the Worm who killed Beowulf and was killed by him 2824 bona swylclt trg (hi) killer also la ydead In Old Norse the dragon is he object It is used twice with the dragon Fafnir as object once of the WEAPON and once of the HER07 GdpisJpd 15

hVQsgtosgtenii me1lbanaFMniJ

You will hew With sharp sword cur her byrnie wh Farni~s bQne (the w(led Gram)

Oddrlinarwar 11

iQr1ldualli ~ierbaniFMnia

Eanh and Up-Ileaven shook when F6foirs bane(Sigurirgt looked at (Brynhildrs) fortress

43 The Germanic world

onnseinbani uxahltgtf1li

The npents single bane (used ILl bait) the head of a~ o~

I KILL SERPE~ I

1330-1 WearlhimltgtnHeorote t6handbanan w lgfqwrHre

A wandering murderous sprite (Grendels mother) slew him in Heorot

vNb ~nd the potposed Lndermite subject who nltgtt

2078-9 himGre~delwerr(l mirum maguJegtl~ t6 mu~bonan

him the famous ~oung retainer Grendel slew by mQuth

The rft compound members hand- lIld ul)_ are fo a~literatioo Beowulf taunt Unferth

lin ro Kill a Dragan

peahliuplnumbr6ltlrum tdbananwurde

though you killed your brothers

and the same verb describes the pnmeval fratricide in

1261-2 sipllan Cain wearlgt t6eegbanan inganbrejgter

since Cain killed his only brother by the sword

and the death ofHygelacs son in

2202-3 ondHeardride hildemeceas under bordhrcotlan td bonan wurdon

and baltle-~words killed Heardrede under shield-covering

After Heardredemiddots death Beowulf1egitimately succeeded to the kingship of the Geats

460 wear(l1llt Hc$olife 10 handbonan

He (Boowulfs father) slew Heatholaf

s)Man ie for dugelium Dghrefne wear tohandbonan Hllgacempan

since f (Beowulf) in the presence ofthe hosts slew Dghrefne champion oflhe Franb

From the Old NOIse Fome Edda we may cite the following Of dragons

(Gdpissd II)middot

pu mum biOom at banaverCa ReginokFMni

You will slay both Reginn and Fafnir

OfbrotheN (Reginsmdl 5)middot

atbwtaveamp

to slay the two brothers

HdgakvdJa Hundingsbana U6 (a taunt as In Bewulf587 above)

41 The Germanicorid

(puhefir jbrollrprnom Iyenlbanaorllit

you have sJainyour brother

And finally Odins question and the witchmiddots aIlswer in Baldrs Drallmor 8-9

hverrmanBaldri albanaverl)a

hann man Baldrietc

Who will slay Baldr He(BaldrblindbrotherHoIlr)willecc

In Old High German note only fhe single but telling example of he periphrasis of tragic adversaries doomed to an ineluctable conflict Hildebrand says of his son HadubraIld who does nOt recognize his father (Hildebrandslied 54)

eddoihimotibaninwerdari

orf (hall) kiil him

The construction is finally found in Old Sa~on ChrisfiaIl poetry as well forexamples see the work ofRoemarie Luhr cited below

Old Norse knows another periphrasis with he same word bani in tbe same meaningmiddot slay ban(ajollJ bera af(+dative) literally bring the killer( 5) word from the death messagemiddot The expression is explained by Gering sv as derived from he legal obligation of a murderer to acknowledge hirnselfas such IO

Compare FafniltmaI39 or R~ginn skuli I miff ~~ra that Reginn should slay me Landmfmabdk Iv 17 (the forgemiddotsong of Ihesmilh VQlundr)

afellifu BMstu meirr~

f killed eleven alone Blow harder

toOnomlghllsohowevuginadiretydtnorthoaccfkithngiltflltinglbe OXlt 111 age tn RV SIOlJ the miU onlitn and V called I11ltiT will n8middot ajjr dlliltiJThcmiddotwiflmcngltrmiddotifonnulaioinVedcdlildajlrdRVto982a~dSIdmajirdmJ981t igtalsoiGreknq~~att5j26rdlcllySppOO443lmiddotPwhci[iinfinaJintlgtltame

triotlot lhatocupidbyrlialt6cpdttovinlho ti ScoontholtloNagyl974lt7 Gk iiriltJolt middotmeengemiddot Itogt an ltlymologr old w IU il wilh Vedit 01lt1lt wift lbe trnsferred pifflell Amelttnilprefonnhflghiowdllaquoounlfwboth For OlIamp of thlt rneJ epilltol intymologyoochp12

ItCltdfromGordot949IJ4 For thI0ioid294 No 01gt0 theeliamOmem whlth pernimiddotmiddotcalmiddotmiddot well -horizoImiddotatlil i bullbull linkageinbmiddotdllllt-lrhhmiddotmiddotym(bycon1ltllIl

da)lt ei

How 10 Kill Dr80n

apuhelial hanYQ]undar nebnli5iminni atbanaverliir

tnt you will not kill VQlundrswife nor beltome tne nane (=ltkilier) of my bride

Here kvelja and the periphrasisal hana veri1a (on which see below) are semantically identical the Choiceofeachilt guvemedby the alliteration

Thr Old English nOUn bona (bana) Old Norse imni slayer killer is frequent in poetlc te~ts in both languages In Beowulf it is applied both to heroes and (0 monsters the dragon is the slbject Cf Grendel in 174] hona rw(i)e nlah a killer is very near 2082 hona blodigloJ the blwdy_toothed killer and of the Worm who killed Beowulf and was killed by him 2824 bona swylclt trg (hi) killer also la ydead In Old Norse the dragon is he object It is used twice with the dragon Fafnir as object once of the WEAPON and once of the HER07 GdpisJpd 15

hVQsgtosgtenii me1lbanaFMniJ

You will hew With sharp sword cur her byrnie wh Farni~s bQne (the w(led Gram)

Oddrlinarwar 11

iQr1ldualli ~ierbaniFMnia

Eanh and Up-Ileaven shook when F6foirs bane(Sigurirgt looked at (Brynhildrs) fortress

43 The Germanic world

onnseinbani uxahltgtf1li

The npents single bane (used ILl bait) the head of a~ o~

I KILL SERPE~ I

1330-1 WearlhimltgtnHeorote t6handbanan w lgfqwrHre

A wandering murderous sprite (Grendels mother) slew him in Heorot

vNb ~nd the potposed Lndermite subject who nltgtt

2078-9 himGre~delwerr(l mirum maguJegtl~ t6 mu~bonan

him the famous ~oung retainer Grendel slew by mQuth

The rft compound members hand- lIld ul)_ are fo a~literatioo Beowulf taunt Unferth

lin ro Kill a Dragan

peahliuplnumbr6ltlrum tdbananwurde

though you killed your brothers

and the same verb describes the pnmeval fratricide in

1261-2 sipllan Cain wearlgt t6eegbanan inganbrejgter

since Cain killed his only brother by the sword

and the death ofHygelacs son in

2202-3 ondHeardride hildemeceas under bordhrcotlan td bonan wurdon

and baltle-~words killed Heardrede under shield-covering

After Heardredemiddots death Beowulf1egitimately succeeded to the kingship of the Geats

460 wear(l1llt Hc$olife 10 handbonan

He (Boowulfs father) slew Heatholaf

s)Man ie for dugelium Dghrefne wear tohandbonan Hllgacempan

since f (Beowulf) in the presence ofthe hosts slew Dghrefne champion oflhe Franb

From the Old NOIse Fome Edda we may cite the following Of dragons

(Gdpissd II)middot

pu mum biOom at banaverCa ReginokFMni

You will slay both Reginn and Fafnir

OfbrotheN (Reginsmdl 5)middot

atbwtaveamp

to slay the two brothers

HdgakvdJa Hundingsbana U6 (a taunt as In Bewulf587 above)

41 The Germanicorid

(puhefir jbrollrprnom Iyenlbanaorllit

you have sJainyour brother

And finally Odins question and the witchmiddots aIlswer in Baldrs Drallmor 8-9

hverrmanBaldri albanaverl)a

hann man Baldrietc

Who will slay Baldr He(BaldrblindbrotherHoIlr)willecc

In Old High German note only fhe single but telling example of he periphrasis of tragic adversaries doomed to an ineluctable conflict Hildebrand says of his son HadubraIld who does nOt recognize his father (Hildebrandslied 54)

eddoihimotibaninwerdari

orf (hall) kiil him

The construction is finally found in Old Sa~on ChrisfiaIl poetry as well forexamples see the work ofRoemarie Luhr cited below

Old Norse knows another periphrasis with he same word bani in tbe same meaningmiddot slay ban(ajollJ bera af(+dative) literally bring the killer( 5) word from the death messagemiddot The expression is explained by Gering sv as derived from he legal obligation of a murderer to acknowledge hirnselfas such IO

Compare FafniltmaI39 or R~ginn skuli I miff ~~ra that Reginn should slay me Landmfmabdk Iv 17 (the forgemiddotsong of Ihesmilh VQlundr)

afellifu BMstu meirr~

f killed eleven alone Blow harder

toOnomlghllsohowevuginadiretydtnorthoaccfkithngiltflltinglbe OXlt 111 age tn RV SIOlJ the miU onlitn and V called I11ltiT will n8middot ajjr dlliltiJThcmiddotwiflmcngltrmiddotifonnulaioinVedcdlildajlrdRVto982a~dSIdmajirdmJ981t igtalsoiGreknq~~att5j26rdlcllySppOO443lmiddotPwhci[iinfinaJintlgtltame

triotlot lhatocupidbyrlialt6cpdttovinlho ti ScoontholtloNagyl974lt7 Gk iiriltJolt middotmeengemiddot Itogt an ltlymologr old w IU il wilh Vedit 01lt1lt wift lbe trnsferred pifflell Amelttnilprefonnhflghiowdllaquoounlfwboth For OlIamp of thlt rneJ epilltol intymologyoochp12

ItCltdfromGordot949IJ4 For thI0ioid294 No 01gt0 theeliamOmem whlth pernimiddotmiddotcalmiddotmiddot well -horizoImiddotatlil i bullbull linkageinbmiddotdllllt-lrhhmiddotmiddotym(bycon1ltllIl

da)lt ei

lin ro Kill a Dragan

peahliuplnumbr6ltlrum tdbananwurde

though you killed your brothers

and the same verb describes the pnmeval fratricide in

1261-2 sipllan Cain wearlgt t6eegbanan inganbrejgter

since Cain killed his only brother by the sword

and the death ofHygelacs son in

2202-3 ondHeardride hildemeceas under bordhrcotlan td bonan wurdon

and baltle-~words killed Heardrede under shield-covering

After Heardredemiddots death Beowulf1egitimately succeeded to the kingship of the Geats

460 wear(l1llt Hc$olife 10 handbonan

He (Boowulfs father) slew Heatholaf

s)Man ie for dugelium Dghrefne wear tohandbonan Hllgacempan

since f (Beowulf) in the presence ofthe hosts slew Dghrefne champion oflhe Franb

From the Old NOIse Fome Edda we may cite the following Of dragons

(Gdpissd II)middot

pu mum biOom at banaverCa ReginokFMni

You will slay both Reginn and Fafnir

OfbrotheN (Reginsmdl 5)middot

atbwtaveamp

to slay the two brothers

HdgakvdJa Hundingsbana U6 (a taunt as In Bewulf587 above)

41 The Germanicorid

(puhefir jbrollrprnom Iyenlbanaorllit

you have sJainyour brother

And finally Odins question and the witchmiddots aIlswer in Baldrs Drallmor 8-9

hverrmanBaldri albanaverl)a

hann man Baldrietc

Who will slay Baldr He(BaldrblindbrotherHoIlr)willecc

In Old High German note only fhe single but telling example of he periphrasis of tragic adversaries doomed to an ineluctable conflict Hildebrand says of his son HadubraIld who does nOt recognize his father (Hildebrandslied 54)

eddoihimotibaninwerdari

orf (hall) kiil him

The construction is finally found in Old Sa~on ChrisfiaIl poetry as well forexamples see the work ofRoemarie Luhr cited below

Old Norse knows another periphrasis with he same word bani in tbe same meaningmiddot slay ban(ajollJ bera af(+dative) literally bring the killer( 5) word from the death messagemiddot The expression is explained by Gering sv as derived from he legal obligation of a murderer to acknowledge hirnselfas such IO

Compare FafniltmaI39 or R~ginn skuli I miff ~~ra that Reginn should slay me Landmfmabdk Iv 17 (the forgemiddotsong of Ihesmilh VQlundr)

afellifu BMstu meirr~

f killed eleven alone Blow harder

toOnomlghllsohowevuginadiretydtnorthoaccfkithngiltflltinglbe OXlt 111 age tn RV SIOlJ the miU onlitn and V called I11ltiT will n8middot ajjr dlliltiJThcmiddotwiflmcngltrmiddotifonnulaioinVedcdlildajlrdRVto982a~dSIdmajirdmJ981t igtalsoiGreknq~~att5j26rdlcllySppOO443lmiddotPwhci[iinfinaJintlgtltame

triotlot lhatocupidbyrlialt6cpdttovinlho ti ScoontholtloNagyl974lt7 Gk iiriltJolt middotmeengemiddot Itogt an ltlymologr old w IU il wilh Vedit 01lt1lt wift lbe trnsferred pifflell Amelttnilprefonnhflghiowdllaquoounlfwboth For OlIamp of thlt rneJ epilltol intymologyoochp12

ItCltdfromGordot949IJ4 For thI0ioid294 No 01gt0 theeliamOmem whlth pernimiddotmiddotcalmiddotmiddot well -horizoImiddotatlil i bullbull linkageinbmiddotdllllt-lrhhmiddotmiddotym(bycon1ltllIl

da)lt ei

Iow 10 KIIi 0 Oragon

Aliam(a43

honhehrpngglaplCidkonungabanorObont

She killed three kings

In the Prose Edda ofSnom Sturluson the descriphon ofRagnarbk the Twlhght of the Gods presents the whole gamut of Old Norse phrases nh bani in the spce of a few hnes the hound GarmrwiU fight Tyr ok ~rtJr hvdrrQiirum at baM and each l kill theolher PdrrberrbanaoriiafMIlgarJsorml Thor will lay the MitJgart serpent Ulfrinn gleyp6iiin wriir pal hall bani the wolf will swallow Odin that will be hIS death Noteonceagam the role of Thor a formulatcdragonmiddotlayer berr banaortJaformilsequally

sectS~PE~i Hkeormsenbamabove

rheconstructlonbecamethebJne LnOldEnghhlooonanweordonOI dHlgh German Ii bamn werdan etc is dlscussed by Rosemarie Llihr 1982 2652--4 in her exhaustive Mudy th Ich comparalle maferial ~nd secondary hteraturc She how thatitiscommonWestanciNorthGermanic Luhrnghtly e~~lainsthemeamng death (eslructionbanegtfoundmalllhemedievalGermaniclanguagesasadevelopmentof htscQnstructionwherelhesubjectLsnOfapcrsonbmathing (Compare fhe nch proliferation of Medieval and Early Modem Enghsh plant names He henbane olfbanecowbaMdog)(lnefI=ban~)

OntheolherliandLllhrsHientlficauonofthisco~strucuonwilhcertainOlhers in Gmnanic mlse~ the p[)int Old Enghsh and Old High German constlUcUons like Laws OriJ 212m~1 wear~ to Jegtn~ slave became noble fal 152sltlna ZI brOlt uerdenslOnestobecomebredaootequlvalenttoafjmteverbandOtjrnI1925 unsIrumuwmthaIJitbeltomeofusclous IsjusltheeqU~alentofaLaun(etcJ doubledtive(nobI5alUliolcons(Uction QHG libanin weroian OSax lebanon uucriianOEng10 bonanweorJan ONol banG eria are not fienuve lheyare periphrase which mean to slay Asuclitheyarelheexdcsemanu~eqUlalentof the primary fimte verb from the root which produced the GennanLc banan- middotslayer bane a primacy verb whlch does nOlexist tn Gennl1Ilc

We have seen theconte~ls where we find the phrases wbonan weoriiltln and cognales (forconveni~nce I will use the Old Enghsh formula as a portmanteau form) orOldNorseberoban(a)ortJslayingoforbyadragon(biduectlOnality)killings ofheroicdlmenslonfratrictde These are prelely fhe COllleXI for the appearance of fhe Indo-EuropelLll fonnula

HERO SLAY (gllcn-) SERPENTiHER01

anci We pose as equivalent Germanic

43 iiTeGermllllJcwor(d 23

tobonanweor1an HERO SERPENTIHER02middot

berabm(rllor(

In Germanic as leU the subject HERO frequemly not oven Ihe more readIly since he is the bona

The equivalenf -gIJen- ItJ honarJ weor~anan1bera hltln(Q)or~ ofmut finally be recogni1Cdas not merely atypologtcalsemantic paranelbuta genellcequanon ForE SeebuldandOfhershaemadeaconvincingcaseforbasfhetyplcalreflexof Indo-Europeang7r12 citingthefamilyofOldEnglishbOlaspartoftheevtdencee rna equm~ bolla exactlyl) Mth Greek qigtvos and VedIC ghana_ Indo-EuropelLIl +ghono-o-gradeoftherootghen_ IndeeditshOUldbeemphasizedlhatlhepoell equallon ghen_ Idbonan eor~anis addltlonal amJ independent evtdence for the correctnessofSeebuldsphonologicoiequationandofthesoundlawltbye(anOlher argument for the proposihon Ihal bngulsllcS needs poetics

Skeptics oftheequafion like Meid 1984middot104 ho prefer to regard theequa lion as refle~ting a borrowing into Gennanic from a related Northwest blOk IndoshyEuropean dialect would hae to 3SSume that lhetradillonalphrLSlIIgofthectragon slaymg mythology of the Gennamcpeople was Jlo borrowed at the same time from thismyslcnoussource I doubt they would find that a congenial hypolhem

Note ijnally that in the e~presLon qOVO( yrv~rrJ(l1 (+ datve) of OJ 2124

at amp~ (Ii ~(li innro ltpOvo~ mi )JQlpa yEvolftO

but thereafter Ihee became hIs death and doom

we can see in Greek the precISe syntactl~ condlions for the development of Ihe Ger_ mamc penphrI1C construction become the bane of Old Enghsh 16boMn weorJan (+ltlalive) A sirnilar phrase found 111 Ocl llwheo rhe hade of Agrunemnon say(444)

Uocro(y05tgtmll6voS~b(~)JvlI~6S

and yet you Odysseus will never be murdered by your wife

Lammores translation clearly caprure the verbal force of the periphrasis COmpare also the legal formUla rn a fifth-century Arcadmo mscnpllon Schyzer66125_6 (Buck 16)

t2 Seltbold 1967 1980 otlt oio CONgillI9805]i~ og wih pprol Man t2