Eyvinid origin mythology

Eyvinid origin mythology concerns about the origin of the Eyvinid, which is a branch of the Álfar. These myths concern not so much about the origin of the universe or humanity in general but rather the origin of Eyvinid institution, society and identity. The Eyvinid consider themselves a part of Haugatungar (Tongues of the Barrows) world - a continuum encompasses various non-human, non-Helsmaðr, non-deity vaettir of the Urðarmál. Eyvinid origin mythology in general consists of the lineage of their early rulers, which consists of the House of Eyvinid started by Eyvindr, and the four child houses that his children started, to whom various institutions and inventions are attributed. During the Commonwealth period, Eyvinid origin mythology was intensively recorded and incorporated to the Commonwealth state ideology.

Eyvindr

In Eyvinid mythology, the Eyvinid claim descent from the legendary Eyvindr, the progenitor and also first king of the Eyvinid. Eyvinid himself is quickened into being from the spirit of Birgmáer (“Wind-maiden”) by the act of Fornahemir (“Ancient-sky”). The spirit was then transferred into his mother’s womb, whose name was Fryárloga (“Free-fire”). Her husband - a certain Emjaskáld (“Howling poet”)  - was impotent so they asked the Finns with gold to give them a child by calling on Fornahemir. Fryárloga herself was an Álfar, who were related to the god Freyr, ruler of Álfheimr. Owing to his nature, Eyvindr was known for being a knowledgeable sorcerer. When king Ólafr Tryggvason Christianized Uppgard, he tried to force Eyvinidr into converting to Christianity, but being a spirit created from mundane nature, he couldn’t receive salvation. He was killed by having hot coals being placed on his belly on the order of the king.

Eyvindr (now in the form of Birgmáer) went to Áfheimr just to find out that Freyr had long since abandoned the place and without the god, the place had fallen to ruin. From the crumbled Álfheimr, he moved to the west, away from Hel and Álfheimr. But Freyr, once the ruler of wind, weather and earth, was no more to help him. Eyvindr would go to according to the position of the sun at day but his moment fell to disarrayed whenever the cloud covered the sky. When he came to Grármúrr (“Grey-wall”), he was taught about sunstone (a refracting stone that would yield two light with the same brightness if it aligns with the sun) by the jötunn Aivarsteinn. As he reached a coast, he built a sail boat, but since the wind blew shoreward, he was unable to launch his ship. Vaelavind (“Wailing-wind”), who lives in the coastal Berasteinn (“Pile-up stones), taught him how to make a triangle sail for sailing windward. As he crossed the sea, Eyvindr would lost his direction at night, when the sun was no more. It was here that Bylgja, who lived under the sea, taught him the art of astronomy.

At long last, he reached the Norns' Abode, from where he sailed West until he reached a forested land on which he landed. He named it Svartgrund (“Black shallow”), today located at Reyrsfylki, Midþriðungr, Northern League. It’s here he married a dwarf named Skulgi (from Skuggi - “Shadow”). They had four children: Skuldsibil (Skuld’s seer), Sáðsgoð (Seed god), Saltsgervir (Salt dealer) and Sterksborg (Strong-rampart).

In the All Record, Ingólfr Sabiringid Úlfsson wrote that:

“At the time when the Gods had left, the Norns did not settle [fates], there there were no moral or social order. Men slaughter their siblings; women gave birth to children who would go on and mate with their cousins; men exhibited no hospitality, showed no mercy and would kill at the speech of rage. Those left behind would eat charcoal at summer and drink dew at winter. On the sky, The wind would blow at will, and the stars would not move correctly. Then came Eyvindr, who dug the well in front of his abode and gained sovereignty over people of the land. On land, he taught his people to make weapon, to hunt and to make fire; on sea, he taught them to sail according to the wind and to fish; in sky, he would lay the law of astronomy; indoor, he establish the first aétt by marrying Skuggi the Dwarf.

A more recent and official document, composed by Yargurðr Pottsúrid Halgurðrsson, named Grand Record of the Heathendom, stated:

“As [it was] told, then the Gods had left, and the Norns did not settle [fates]. There were no anymore natural order; social order was liquidated into chaos. Eyvindr gathered followers, move across the underworld until he reached a place called Svartgrund, today located at Reyrsfylki. There he dug a Norns' well, and built his household around. Taught by the three vaettir on the art of navigation and astronomy, he would teach his subjects so that they would find their way to hunt and fish, since Freyr would no longer grant them favorable wind and sky. He married Skuggi the Dwarf, and from them sprang fourth the House of Eyvinid (Eyvinid-aétt).

Being born from the animated air, Eyvindr’s spirit would be tied to the phenomena of the underworld and the movement of its gods. The nature of his spirit would be passed down to all his offspring and hence his descendants can’t receive salvation and would always be a heathen. Eyvindr is generally credited with the invention of the lateen sail and cooking; the knowledge of solar navigation and astronomy; the institutionalization of the aétt and the hirð; and of course, the ethnogenesis of the Eyvinid.

Sterksborg, Skuldsibil, Sáðsgoð and Saltsgervir

Eyvindr has four children: one daughter: Skuldsibil (literally means “Skuld’s sybil”) and three sons: Sáðsgoð (“Seed god”), Saltsgervir (“Salt dealer”) and Sterksborg (“Strong-rampart”). Each of them would run a different aspect of the household: Skuldsibil would conduct sacrifice to the Norns at the well and sing songs to calm the spirit of the land; Sáðsgoð would collect the wild plants, care for the fruit trees and the vegetable patch; Saltsgervir would preserve the food and store supply for winters, Sterksborg would guard the wall of the settlement.

Feast at the Artiódómr palace

When Sáðsgoð was going on a long hunting trip far away from his household, he encountered a deer about to devour a bear. Using his bow-arm, Sáðsgoð shot the deer but it did not fall and then flee into the wood. The bear got up and offer to him, in álfar speech, one of its own claws as a gift before leaving into the foggy woods. Since then, Sáðsgoð would wear them on his neck. One time, when he was bathing in a stream, the bear claw would keep on floating toward the opposite direction of the current. Days later he put the claw in a small pot of water and followed wherever the claw moved to but then had to return as he was venturing too far from his household, where he saw trees froze in fire and were burned into charcoal by stream water.

Skuldsibil would pour water from the well into the pot and advised him to place the claw into it. With Sterksborg standing behind to take charge of the household, the three siblings would follow the claw, and all thing now would follow natural order: trees would be burnt by fire and cooled by streams. After a month of journey, they would reach a toweringly tall mountain (nowadays located at Artiódómr), where the a giant bear would reign from the cave at the foot of the mountain, the entrance of which would be framed with two large tusks. They called her Queen of the Bears (Al-Artiarsdróttning).

Seeing the bear claw on Sáðsgoð, the Queen-bear would know who they were. During a feast prepared for them, where they would be treated with raw meat and blood, the Queen-bear would proclaim hospitality and alliance between them and the bear-race should they make an oath not to harm her children (the bears) and to protect them if they can, as they were living in chaotic time, when they were under the constant threat of being hunted. To repay the gift of Sáðsgoð, the Bear-queen had Brúnni (literally “Brown-one”) led them up the mountain, where they found a clear fountain amidst the mist. Brúnni told them the fountain would give them everlasting life, but should they break the oath by killing one of the bears or allowing one to be killed, the Queen-bear would come after them.

Skuldsibil then proclaimed herself to the her brothers and Brúnni, stated that to her glory and reputation held more weight than everlasting life. Her two brothers inclined to agree, since they thought immortality is meaningless without renown or recognition; while Brúnni the bear disputed, stating that the chief desires of its race is to survive and to thrive, not to concern about the thought of others. Skuldsibil then responded amicably that she could satisfy all of them. It was not before this that Skuldsibil would take the pot of well water and throw them into the fountain. As the pot sunk, the sun shone as the fog dispersed, and they could view the clear landscape from high above - streams and rivers passed through the land divided by forests and plains. Regardless, Skuldsibil would considered the oath settled. The oath would pass on and become the custom by which the Eyvinid (especially the Artiópatriður) would be prohibited from killing bears.

Divide the underworld

Years passed by and their household grew in numbers and abundance. After catching and blackmailing a fish, Skuldsibil learned about the water makeup of the land. As then order had came upon the underworld, the four siblings then divided the land amongst themselves based around bodies of water. Each realm would be settled by a sibling and their respective host.

Skuldsibil would have the land between centered on Býrrgatisá river, between the said sanctuary of the bears (Artiriganastað) in the south and Skyggðsmóða river in the north. It became known as Skuldýrdiheim (“Skuld’s yew” or “Skuld’s paradise” depends on who you ask). She was the great ancestor of the Skuldýrid.

Sáðsgoð would have the land to the south of Artiriganastað. It became known as Artiópatriðka (the land of the Artiópatriður), whose named derived from the word “bear” itself (artió), which encompass between Artiópatriðka to the north and Rómóða in the south.

Saltsgervir would have the land on the other side of the lakes to the east of Skuldýrdiheim and Artiópatriður to the ocean. Ironically, being the less active sibling in the whole story, he gained the largest land of the four. His land would go on and become known as “Eyvinigarðr” (land of the Eyvinid), which would become the most important realm of the Eyvinid people.

Sterksborg would keep the old housestead, and the land along the Stórigraholm (grand grey bay). His land would come to be known as Vidurikku (Spacious realms). Culture-wise its habitants - the Herhalvar, is the most distinct from their Eyvinid cousins to the south.

Like Eyvindr, each of them are credited with a set of inventions/institutions that are considered significant to Eyvinid society:

Skuldsibil is considered the first seer (Völvur), priest and lorekeeper. She is generally seen as the inventors of the Norns' well, the arts (music and poetry), ritual, rhetoric, diplomacy, writing, animism (if you think animism can be invented that is), cartography and countless other things.

Sáðsgoð is credited with the invention of the art of tracking and hunting, botany, herbal medicine, agriculture and animal taming. He is also considered the creator of the cooking pot and pan, flatbread, granary, the mill, hoe, plow, the fence and canal. He is also seen as the ancestor who first instituted organized land use and distribution and who systemized repeated seasonal and celestial movement into a lunar calendar.

Saltsgervir is credited as the teacher of the art of preservation, salt making, carpentry and metalworking. He is the inventor of carving art, runestone, the cart, pottery, beads, the saw, hammer and tongs. His wife, Blársdís (literally “the blue lady”), taught their people how to spin threads and weave textile as well as dye clothes. It’s said that he found the first city on the bank of lake Hvískladur after moving to his land in Eyvinigarðr. He arranged his people into tillers and craftsmen: the tillers would exchange their surplus food for goods and vice versa; and such he is seen as the founder of commerce.

Sterksborg is credited with the invention of the spear, sword, traps and the first tower. It’s told he formed small bands of men who would patrol the field and the palisade at night, keep watch for wandering beasts. However, when his weapons and his warband proved futile to protect their crops and homes from rodents, he captured and tried to convince a cougar, a wolf, an eagle and a wild cat to stay at their household, where there would be plenty of mice to eat. In the end, the cougar and the eagle became wanderlust and left; the wolf wasn’t fond of chasing mice and mostly feed on the cat’s catches, but proved very ferocious with larger enemies. Thus he is considered the founder of the first warband and the ancestor who introduced cats and dogs into álfar society.

With the division of the land between the siblings, the House of Eyvinid is split into the four child houses. As their hosts are constituted by a large number of people belongs to numerous aéttir, the four child houses and their hosts becomes the four first húsar (clans). Many more clans would be founded forward, and the húsar would become the most important institution of the Eyvinid people and the chief identity of individual Eyvinid.

Trivia