Prologue Odin History

Odin had the gift of prophecy and so did his wife, and from this science
he discovered that his name would be remembered in the northern
part of the world and honoured above all kings. For this reason he
became eager to set off from Turkey and took with him a very
great following, young people and old, men and women, and they
took with them many precious things. And whatever countries
they passed through, great glory was spoken of them, so that they
seemed more like gods than men. And they did not halt their
journey until they came north to the country that is now called
Saxony. Odin stayed there a long while and gained possession of
large parts of that land.

There Odin put in charge of the country three of his sons; one’s
name was Veggdegg, he was a powerful king and ruled over East
Saxony; his son was Vitrgils, his sons were Vitta, father of
Hengest, and Sigar, father of Svebdegg, whom we call Svipdag.
Odin’s second son was called Beldegg, whom we call Baldr; he
had the country that is now called Westphalia. His son was Brand,
his son Friodigar, whom we call Frodi, his son was Freovin, his
son Wigg, his son Gewis, whom we call Gavir. Odin’s third son’s
name was Siggi, his son Rerir. This dynasty ruled over what is
now called France, and from it is descended the family called the
Volsungs. From all these people great family lines are descended.
Then Odin set off north and came to a country that they called
Reidgotaland and gained possession of all he wished in that land.
He set over the area a son of his called Skiold; his son was called
Fridleif. From them is descended the family called the Skioldungs;
they are kings of Denmark, and what was then called Reidgotaland is now called Jutland.

After that Odin went north to what is now called Sweden.
There was there a king whose name was Gylfi, and when he
learned of the arrival of the men of Asia (who were called Æsir),
he went to meet them and offered Odin as much power in his
realm as he wished himself. And such was the success that
attended their travels that in whatever country they stopped, there
was then prosperity and good peace there, and everyone believed
that they were responsible for it because thé people who had
power saw that they were unlike other people they had seen in
beauty and wisdom. Odin found the conditions in the country
attractive and selected as a site for his city the place which is now
called Sigtunir. He also organized rulers there on the same pattern
as had been in Troy, set up twelve chiefs in the place to administer
the laws of the land, and he established all the legal system as it had
previously been in Troy, and to which the Turks were accustomed.

After that he proceeded north to where he was faced by the sea,
the one which they thought encircled all lands, and set a son of his
over the realm which is now called Norway. He is called Sæming,
and the kings of Norway trace their ancestry back to him, as do
earls and other rulers, as it says in Haleygiatal. And Odin took
with him a son of his whose name was Yngvi, who became king in
Sweden, and from him are descended the family lines known as
the Ynglings. These Æsir found themselves marriages within the
country there, and some of them for their sons too, and these
families became extensive, so that throughout Saxony and from
there all over the northern regions it spread so that their language,
that of the men of Asia, became the mother tongue over all these
lands. And people think they can deduce from the records of the
names of their ancestors that those names belonged to this
language, and that the Æsir brought the language north to this
part of the world, to Norway and to Sweden, to Denmark and to
Saxony; and in England there are ancient names for regions and
places which one can tell come from a different language from this
one.


- Prose Edda, Prologue