Friedrich von Oehlenschläger

“ He often descends to earth, to sit in judgment, and hear causes under the shade of the ash-tree Yggdrassil, near the fountain of Urda. He is the son of Balder, inasmuch as justice proceeds from light; and as Urda is the Norna or destiny of the past, it is from her fountain (i.e. consulting the records of the past) that he acquires experience. The etymology of this word is for (before) , and sete (set) , ergo præses, president.
FREY, or FREYR, is the god of liberty, joy and fecundity; he is the son of Niord, and brother of Freya. He is invoked for sunshine and good crops. ”

“ Why stand there idle the livelong night,
And lose every chance to earn a fare?
HARBARD.
A Nidding is he who denies his name;
Yet were I base as the torrent’s scum, [246]
My birth to reveal I’d feel no shame:
’Tis not such as thou shall make me dumb.
SKIRNIR.
I seek not to cross the fiord, I swear,
To teach thee manners and language meet:
But thou hast perchance a sister fair,
Who would more courteous a stranger greet:
Or thou art link’d to a beauteous bride,
Who would not disdain on a youth to smile:
Then ferry me quick to the other side!
I fain would commune with her awhile.
HARBARD.
Aye! ”

“ Oehler and his wife, in Pobles, were typically healthy people. Strength, robustness, lively dispositions, and a cheerful outlook on life, were among the qualities which every one was pleased to observe in them. Our grandfather Oehler was a bright, clever man, and quite the old style of comfortable country parson, who thought it no sin to go hunting. ”

“ Him, ’tis said, the Scald hath found
Thus alone
Changed to stone
In the forest, still with vine-leaves crown’d.
For the death of her beloved Odur
Deeply Freya mourns with grief sincere:
In the ecstacy of melancholy
Down her lovely cheek flows many a tear:
Oft her heart’s profound emotion
Pours she in each lover’s breast;
Pleasing thrill,
Flowing still,
Painful longing! from thy poignant zest.
[190]
CANTO XVI.
THE NUPTIALS OF SKADA.
While captive pined Iduna, Valhalla seem’d a grave ”

“ A seat by Odin’s dexter hand just between him and Eir
Remain’d unoccupied; ’twas meant for Freya and for Freyr: [68]
By Thor his consort Sif was placed; the warlike god was seen
Oft on the shoulders of his wife his awful front to lean.
Next them sat Heimdal; when his eyes Freya and Frey behold,
Smiling he draws his lip aside, and shows his tooth of gold:
So sharp his ears, he hears wool grow and grasses upwards shoot,
And well he knew what in the grove those two had talk’d about.
Next to Heimdaller Gefion sat, the proud shield-bearing maid ”

“ With outspread wings, as midnight vapours dark,
Perch’d on the branches of an elm-tree lithe;
Forth jutting from the leaves, its beak so stark
Shone crook’d and polish’d as a reaper’s scythe.
As th’ ignis fatuus over marsh and mire
At midnight a malignant radiance flings;
Thus glared the giant bird with eyes of fire,
And gazed upon the roast, and clapp’d its wings.
Behold a dire mischance the cook befell!
Down fell the cloven trees! and with them fell
The ox! the eagle still with frightful leer
Gazed on the flame, which now went out from fear. [154]
“Why sitst thou there? ”

“ Of your aid deprived, O skilful Vaner!
What were in the north the Asar’s power?
What would then avail thy wisdom, Odin?
What avail thy boasted strength, O Thor?
Frey midst thorns and brakes and briars
Flax and corn benignant sows:
On mankind,
Ever kind,
Freya offspring beautiful bestows.
She herself obtain’d a handsome bridegroom ”

“ He is to be slain by Surtur at Ragnarok. Etym.: frei (free) , friò (seed) . It is remarkable that in Egypt the sun was called Phré. The Swedish word fröid (joy) is probably derived from the name of this god.
FREYA is the Venus of the Scandinavians, the goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and fecundity; she is the sister of Frey, and daughter of Niord. She is the most beautiful of all the Asynior. She was married to Odur; but when the goddess Iduna, with her golden vase containing the fruit of immortality, was stolen from Asagard, Freya, in common with the other Asar, lost her youth and beauty ”

“ And Heimdal’s horn excites the world to sempiternal fight.”
But since his last expulsion Lok to mount to Valhall’s dome
Without safe conduct ventured not, and houseless still must roam:
Towards evening he reach’d the grove of beech on Sealand’s isle,
As homeward with his plough return’d the peasant from his toil.
There is a spot within that grove, whence fountains with delight
Spring from benignant Hertha’s breast, and through the sand stream bright:
’Twas on the spot where Leire stood, and afterwards king Hro [98]
With many a stone and plank and joist constructed Kongebo. ”

“ She is pleased with offerings of fruits and flowers, and is herself extremely generous and beneficent. The constellation “Orion’s belt,” is termed by the Scalds the “spinning-wheel of Frigga.” She is the mother of Balder, Hædur, Thor, etc. The etymology of Frigga is friò (seed) , gà (to take care of) .
FULLA, name of an Asynia, the handmaid and confidante of Frigga, and guardian of her jewels and wardrobe. She hands round the plates to the guests at the banquet of Valhalla. Her name typifies abundance ”

“ Frigga replied: No weapon can do injury to Balder, for I have exacted an oath in his favour from all things likely to do him mischief. Lok answered: Have you really exacted an oath from all things? Frigga replied: Eastward to Valhalla grows a little plant, called the mistletoe; from it I exacted no oath, for it appeared to me so insignificant, as to be incapable of doing harm to anybody. Lok went away, dug up the plant, and made thereof a spear; he then went in search of Hædur, twin-brother of Balder, and born blind. ”

“ Than those of Denmark, when the lays of nightingales resound?
Niord weeps with rage, while Skada fell lays waste his rich domain,
But changed his precious tears become to fecundating rain;
When rain descends, it never fails to damp the tempest’s wings;
Thus ever ’gainst his consort’s spells some antidote he brings.
From Vingolf Niord was absent, when the mead was handed round,
For while Forsete sat as judge by Urda’s wave profound,
He clear’d the air from vapours foul: where’er extends his power,
Healthy and free each peasant breathes, sickness prevails no more. ”

“ By this, according to Finn Magnussen, is meant the gradual deterioration of the [lxix] world, which will end in its destruction; for the Ash Yggdrassil is no other than the symbol of our world. May I be permitted to add my conjecture towards the interpretation of this mythe: By the first root, which pushes stem and branches towards Asagard, may be meant the elevation of our thoughts towards heaven. By the second root, extending towards the region of the ferocious Hrimthusser, may be meant the tendency of our minds to fraud, rapine and violence ”

“ No one not bound to him by ties of blood and of family honour would ever care for his interests, work for his welfare, guard his repute, and consolidate his fortunes as Friedrich Othmar had done from the days of his boyhood. They had often been sharply opposed in opinion and in action, and more than once the elder man had learned that the younger man deemed him well-nigh a knave, whilst the elder held the younger in complete derision as a dreaming fool. ”

“ In a letter written to Hoffmann on March 26th, 1821, recommending a young fellow-countryman to him, Oehlenschläger says, "Dip him also a little in the magic sea of your humour, respected friend, and teach him how a man can be a philosopher and seer of the world under the ironical mantle of the mad-house, and what is more an amiable man as well;" ”

“ If Jean Oullier is a good man, a worthy man,--which I do not doubt,--Jean Oullier will be released. If he is one who is trying to deceive you and take advantage of your good and loyal feelings, Jean Oullier will be punished. Do you think it unjust to punish those who try to plunge the country back into those horrors of civil war of which the old now tell the young with tears? ”

“ If he had had imagination enough, he would have found out a thousand idealised ways of using his great wealth.'
'Thank heaven, then, that he has so little,' said Friedrich Othmar. 'Myself, I always considered that he had a great deal too much. I do not underrate imagination in its proper place. None of the great events of the world would have taken place without it: every great revolutionist, every great conqueror, every great statesman, even, must possess it ”

“ It would require, however, no great persuasion on L'Oyseleur's part to convince her that this was a more than usually important day, and that something decisive must be done, now or never. Why should she be so determined to resist her only chance of safety? If she were but delivered from the hands of the English, safe in the gentler keeping of the Church, there would be time to think of everything, even to make her peace with her voices who would surely understand if, for the saving of her life, and out of terror for the dreadful fire, she abandoned them for a moment. ”

“ On the deliverance of Iduna, Freya recovered her youth and beauty, but her Odur never returned. She wandered all over the earth in search of him, but in vain. She weeps continually for his loss, and sheds tears of gold. When she travels, it is in a golden car, drawn by two black cats. Freya has two daughters, Siofna and Hnos, both remarkable for their beauty and gentleness. The Dutch word fraai (handsome) , is derived probably from Freya.
FRIGGA is the wife of Odin, the queen of the gods, the Juno and Ceres of the Scandinavian mythology. ”

“ Friedrich had despatched messengers to Ohlau, that the force there should join him; messengers are all captured. The like message had already gone to Brieg, some days before, and the Blockading Body, a good few thousand strong, quitted Brieg, as we saw, and effected their junction with him. All day, this Sunday, 9th, it still snows and blows; you cannot see a yard before you. No hope now of Holstein-Beck. Not the least news from any quarter; Ohlau uncertain, too likely the wrong way: What is to be done? We are cut off from our Magazines, have only provision for one other day. ”

“ Giants and gods no longer eternal war shall wage;
The bosom melts with kindness, that once throbb’d high with rage.
The heart of Thrymur beats with love; the object of his flame
Is Freya; to the rocks and woods he sighs out Freya’s name.
And when athwart the birch-trees he views her glorious fane,
And marks her spindle sparkling with many a yellow skein,
The female, thinks the giant, who such a quantity
Of flax can spin, must truly a clever housewife be.
She’s just the dame for Thrymur’s taste; soft, delicate, and thin
Must be the fingers, that can draw the silken thread so fine. ”

“ Findelkind, without knowing that he was like so many dissatisfied poets and artists much bigger than himself, dimly felt in his little tired mind how beautiful and how gorgeous and how grand the world must have been when heroes and knights like these had gone by in its daily sunshine and its twilight storms. No wonder Findelkind of Arlberg had found his pilgrimage so fair, when if he had needed any help he had only had to kneel and clasp these firm, mailed limbs, these strong cross-hilted swords, in the name of Christ and of the poor. ”

“ Academicians,—and not Maupertuis only, but all manner of mathematical geniuses (Euler whom he got, at Gravesande, Muschenbroek whom he failed of) ; and Literary geniuses innumerable, first and last. Academicians, Musicians, Players, Dancers even; much more Soldiers and Civil-Service men: no man that carries any honest "CAN DO" about with him but may expect some welcome here. Which continued through Friedrich's reign ”

“ Yggdrassil is the genealogical tree of the human race; its triple root denotes the three sorts of men who are to be found on earth, viz. Those who cooperate powerfully for a noble and eternal object (children of the gods) ; Those who work powerfully, but for an ignoble and temporal object (children of giants) ; and lastly, the idle, useless and powerless, relations of Hela. The Eagle denotes the human mind in its greatest elevation ”

“ There was no figure better known in Paris than that of the Baron Friederich Othmar, familiar to society all over Europe as Baron [238] Fritz; a tall and portly figure carried with the ease and vigour of manhood, though age had whitened the hair, that was still abundant, on the handsome head above. He never attempted to conceal his age: he despised all maquillage, as all healthy and all clever men do ”

“ They continued to converse for some time upon the subject, but the young Dane was the most violent, and at length appeared to agree with the French, that such occurrences could only happen to a German savant.
They passed on to other subjects, but disputed and conversed mostly upon poetry. Young Oswald, who imitated Oehlenschläger, had read and criticised much, and had likewise entered deeply into mystical subjects, asserted that many superstitions, and a voluntary respect for acknowledged authority, imposed the heaviest shackles upon genius. ”

“ About 4 in the morning, Friedrich's Battery of 40 has begun raging; the howitzers diligent upon O'Kelly and his Burkersdorf Height,—not much hurting O'Kelly or his Height, so high was it, but making a prodigious noise upon O'Kelly;—others of the cannon shearing home on those palisades and elaborations, in the Weistritz Valley in particular, and quite tearing up a Cavalry Regiment which was drawn out there; so that O'Kelly had instantly to call it home, in a very wrecked condition. ”