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d sadly suspected that she had had a vision of great ills. The tears ran continuously down her pallid cheeks, and Bragi, overcome by her unhappiness, at length bade the other gods return to Asgard without him, vowing that he would remain beside his wife until she was ready to leave Hel's dismal realm. The sight of her woe oppressed him so sorely that he had no heart for his usual merry songs, and the strings of his harp were mute while he remained in the underworld. "That voice-like zephyr o'er flow'r meads creeping, Like Bragi's music his harp strings sweeping." Viking Tales of the North (R. B. Anderson). In this myth Idun's fall from Yggdrasil is symbolical of the autumnal falling of the leaves, which lie limp and helpless on the cold bare ground until they are hidden from sight under the snow, represented by the wolfskin, which Odin, the sky, sends down to keep them warm; and the cessation of the birds' songs is further typified by Bragi's silent harp. CHAPTER VIII: NIOeRD A Hostage with the Gods We have already seen how the AEsir and Vanas exchanged hostages after the terrible war they had waged against each other, and that while Hoenir, Odin's brother, went to live in Vana-heim, Nioerd, with his two children, Frey and Freya, definitely took up his abode in Asgard. "In Vana-heim Wise powers him created, And to the gods a hostage gave." Lay of Vafthrudnir (Thorpe's tr.). As ruler of the winds, and of the sea near the shore, Nioerd was given the palace of Noatun, near the seashore, where, we are told, he stilled the terrible tempests stirred up by AEgir, god of the deep sea. "Nioerd, the god of storms, whom fishers know; Not born in Heaven--he was in Van-heim rear'd, With men, but lives a hostage with the gods; He knows each frith, and every rocky creek Fringed with dark pines, and sands where sea-fowl scream." Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold). He also extended his special protection over commerce and fishing, which two occupations could be pursued with advantage only during the short summer months, of which he was in a measure considered the personification. The God of Summer Nioerd is represented in art as a very handsome god, in the prime of life, clad in a short green tunic, with a crown of shells and seaweed upon his head, or a brown-brimmed hat adorned with eagle or heron plumes.
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