Scholars On Rydberg
 

One of the central myths promoted by the Rydberg cult is that the poet’s racial-nationalist fantasy, Researches in Germanic Mythology (UGM) not only was regarded as an important scholarly work in its own time, but is still considered a valuable resource by contemporary scholars in Old Norse and Germanic mythology. Thus, a 40-year-old footnote in a text by Gabriel Turville-Petre is often misrepresented as an endorsement of UGM, and Ursula Dronke’s definitive study, The Poetic Edda, vol. II: Mythological Poems, is often claimed to support Rydberg’s speculations – although neither the Swedish writer nor his work is mentioned in Dronke’s text, even in a footnote.

Rydberg himself was under no such illusions. Recognizing that UGM did not measure up to the scholarly standards of his day, the author repeatedly complained in private correspondence that he expected to get no recognition for his efforts from professionals in the field. In this Rydberg was not completely correct, for in fact UGM has maintained a shadowy, if sporadic, presence in the footnotes and marginalia of Old Norse scholarship, where it continues to serve as an example of just how badly a self-educated amateur can go astray in the study of Germanic mythology:

Fantasies:

Amateurish in the worst sense, jumping to wild conclusions without any knowledge of the historical value of the sources or of previous work done. On the Scandinavian side there is heavy dependence on the fantasies of Rydberg, writing in the last century, and apparent ignorance of progress made since his time.

– H. R. Ellis Davidson, "Book Review: Hamlet’s Mill: An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time," 85 Folklore 282-83 (1974), p. 283.

Not Substantiated:

Rydberg's suggestion that Mímir is Bölþorn’s son is not substantiated by any source.

–Marlene Ciklamini, "Óðinn and the Giants," 46 Neophilologus 145-58 (1962), p. 151.

Outmoded:

Where some representations of the past lack depth and interpretive nuance, and while some heathens may passively accept outmoded accounts of the past (eg Rydberg 1906), others contest simplistic narratives and contribute to scholarly dialogue regarding the past.

–Jenny Blain and Robert J. Wallis, "Representing Spirit: Heathenry, New-Indigenes and the Imaged Past," in Images, Representations and Heritage: Moving beyond Modern Approaches to Archaeology 89-108 (2006), p. 105.

Snorri Basher:

The first thunderous Snorri basher was Viktor Rydberg. ... Whether Rydberg, steeped in the ideas of romanticism, understood Úlfr Uggason (the author of Húsdrápa, containing a description of Baldr’s funeral as it was represented in the carvings in Ólafr pá’s hall) better than Snorri is open to doubt.

–Anatoly Liebermann, "Some Controversial Aspects of the Myth of Baldr," 11 Alvíssmál 17-54 (2004), pp. 33-34.

Misinterpretation:

Since Suttungr is unanimously declared to be the possessor of the poetic mead, it is difficult to agree with Rydberg that Hávamál 140 represents Bölþorn’s son as the owner. His hypothesis is based on a misinterpretation of the stanza, since Háv. 140 represents the boast of a god who deprived his enemies of the exclusive right to magic and the ownership of the mead.

–Marlene Ciklamini, "Óðinn and the Giants," 46 Neophilologus 145-58 (1962), p. 151.

Flawed Methodological Principles:

Discussions of Rydberg's highly systematized versions of the mythology periodically surface on Ásatrú mailing lists and other public fora for debate. They have a few adherents within the community; however, on the whole the community rejects them, as do academics today, as being attempts to create an artificial order based on flawed methodological principles and nineteenth century definitions of deity.

 –Jenny Blain, Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic: Ecstasy and Neo-Shamanism in North European Paganism (2002), p. 163.

Based More on Imagination than Facts:

Rydberg’s intentions in his investigations of Germanic mythology were to co-ordinate the myths and mythical fragments into coherent short stories. Not for a moment did he hesitate to make subjective interpretations of the episodes, based more on his imagination and poetical skills than on facts.

–Britt-Mari Näsström, Freyja: The Great Goddess of the North (1995).

Merging Eddic Characters:

Merging Eddic characters and looking for hypostases is an unprofitable occupation. It allows any god (giant, dwarf) to become anybody else, as happened under Rydberg’s pen.

–Anatoly Liebermann, "Some Controversial Aspects of the Myth of Baldr," 11 Alvíssmál 17-54 (2004), p. 38.

Awash with Speculation:

Rydberg’s argument is too awash with speculation to receive much attention in our day.

–Frog (University College, London), "Recognizing Mythic Images in Fantastic Literature: Reading Baldrs draumar 12-14," in Preprints, Proceedings of the 13th International Saga Conference (2006), p. 7.

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