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.