shines, conferring numberless blessings on mankind, and death finally steals upon him. Odin seems not to have much need of his like. Thus death by arms came to be considered a happy lot, by the zealous followers of the asa-faith, for it was a proof of Odin's favor smiling upon them. He who fell by arms was called by Odin to himself, before Hel laid claim to her share of his being; he was Odin's chosen son, who with longing was awaited in Valhal, that he, in the ranks of the einherjes, might assist and sustain the gods in their last battle, in Ragnarok. In accordance with this theory we find in the ancient song of praise to the fallen king Erik Blood-ax, that Sigmund asks Odin this question:
Why snatch him then, father,
From fortune and glory?
Why not leave him rather
To fill up his story
On victory's road?
ODIN:
Because no man knows
When gray wolf[1] so gory
His grisly maw shows
In Asgard's abode;
Therefore Odin calls
And Erik fain falls
To follow his liege lord
And fight for his god.
By this Odin means to say, we do not know when the Fenris-wolf may come, and therefore we may need Erik's assistance. In the same sense the valkyrie is made by Eyvind Skaldespiller, in Hákonarmál, to say:
Now are strengthened the host of the gods,
Since they have Haakon
And his valiant army
Home to themselves brought.
- ↑ The Fenris-wolf.
