Gestumblindi

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Gestumblindi is a character in Norse mythology . He appears in the Hervarar saga and as Gestiblindus in the Gesta Danorum of the Saxo Grammaticus .

The riddles of the Gestumblindi

According to the Hervarar saga , Gestumblindi was a powerful man in Reidgotaland who had angered King Heidrek ( Heiðrekr ) for refusing to pay him tribute . Heidrek had taken the vow that anyone who was guilty of anything against him could walk in peace if he presented him with riddles that he could not guess. However, the king has never been given puzzles that he could not solve. When Heidrek summoned Gestumblindi, he had to fear guiltily and desperately for his life because he did not trust himself to save himself with riddles. Gestumblindi made sacrifices to Odin and asked for his assistance. Shortly afterwards a stranger appeared at Gestumblindi and also called himself Gestumblindi. The two men were so alike that no one could tell them apart. They changed clothes and the real Gestumblindi hid. The stranger who pretended to be Gestumblindi went to King Heidrek and gave him three dozen riddles, mostly about nature but also about Nordic mythology, and Heidrek solved them all. The puzzles are detailed in the saga.

Finally, instead of a riddle, Odin / Gestumblindi Heidrek asked the same unsolvable question that he posed to the giant Wafthrudnir in the Vafþrúðnismál : what Odin whispered in the ear of the dead Baldur before he was put on the stake for burial. Then Heidrek noticed that Gestumblindi was actually Odin and became angry: Nobody knows your words except you alone, poor wretch, miserable! He struck Tyrfing at Odin with his cursed sword . However, Odin flew away in the form of a hawk , predicting Heidrek's murder by unfaithful servants, which is described in the following chapter of the saga.

The puzzles of the Gestumblindi ( Gátur Gestumblinda , also known as Heiðreks gátur , Heidrek's puzzle) are the only surviving Old Norse puzzles. They differ from the Eddic songs Grimnismál , Vafþrúðnismál , Fjölsvinnsmál and Alvíssmál in that they are real puzzles as samples of acumen, while the songs test mythological knowledge.

The Swedish literary scholar Anders Hultgård suspects that the puzzles of Gestumblindi and the related Vafþrúðnismál go back to Indo-European myths and cites as evidence that the 5th Yasht of the old Iranian Avesta has similar features.

Gesta Danorum

Saxo Grammaticus tells that Gestiblindus was a king of the Gauts who surrendered himself and his kingdom to the Danish king Frodi , on condition that Frodi would defend him against the Swedish king Alrik .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edda. Vol. 2: poetry of gods and poetry. Transferred by Felix Genzmer. 2., ext. and new through. Ed. Diederichs, Jena 1932. pp. 155–156
  2. ↑ Edda. Vol. 2: poetry of gods and poetry. Transferred by Felix Genzmer. 2., ext. and new through. Edition Diederichs, Jena 1932. p. 165
  3. ↑ E. Matthias Reifegerste: Heiðreks gátur . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . 2., completely reworked. and strong exp. Edition. tape 14 . de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1999, ISBN 3-11-016423-X , p. 158-161 .
  4. ↑ Anders Hultgård: The wisdom contest in Vafþrúðnismál . In: Analecta septentrionalia. Contributions to the North Germanic cultural and literary history . de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-021869-5 , pp. 531-538 .

Web links

Two different versions of the puzzle:

  • Heiðreksgátur ( Old Norse ) In: Eddukvæði . heimskringla.no. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
  • Gátur Gestumblinda ( Old Norse ) In: Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks . Northvegr Foundation. Retrieved September 11, 2012.