The Stiller of Strife

By Richard Culver (Ó Yule 2002)

Dedicated to Jennifer Culver,

who sets me on the right course when I am adrift.

“Glitnir is the tenth.  Its studs are of old
and the roof was shingled in silver.
Forseti sits there most of the day
And puts all strife to rest.”

(Chisholm, “Lay of Grimnir”, stanza15, p. 183)

            Of all the Gods in the Northern Way, Forseti or Fosite, is one of the least called and known about.  Even in the more accessible texts for Heathen research, such as H. R. Ellis Davidson’s Gods and Myths of Northern Europe and Jan de Vries’ Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte, he is lumped in with the “enigmatic gods” and, the German equivalent, “die übrigen Götter,” respectively.  In E. O. G. Turville-Petre, He is not even given room for discussion.  He is just cited during discussion of Baldr and during place-name study.  Even heathen authors, such as Kveldulfr Gundarsson in Teutonic Religion, give him mention but little of it involved1.  With these wonderful minds passing over and not elaborating in detail, it is no wonder the folk have not seen to give Forseti more of their thoughts and hearts in this day.

                It is the hope of this article to, hopefully, expand upon the information given to today’s heathen.  In doing so we will tackle issues and arguments which surround this God and the lore surviving his worship from the elder age.  Such elements include Forseti’s appearance in Norse lore, His connection to Frisian legend, and secondary sources which point to some of the possible aspects of His cult.  Finally the author’s worshipful perspective will hopeful aid in bringing light to a glorious and needed deity in modern Heathenry today.

            In Norse lore, knowledge of Forseti is limited to one stanza in “Lay of Grimnir”, cited above, of the Poetic Edda and passing mention in Snorri Sturlusons’s Edda.  What is available for reading does however shows surprisingly much about Forseti’s nature.  The “Lay of Grimnir” account comments on His role as a god who puts “strife to rest”2 or a “stiller of strife,”3  In Snorri’s Edda4, in “Gylfaginning,” He is said to be the son of Baldr and Nanna, the lord of the hall Glitnir, “held up by golden pillars and likewise roofed with silver”, and “whoever comes to him with difficult legal disputes, they all leave with their differences settled.”5  In the opening of the “Skaldskaparmal,” Forseti is cited among the twelve Æsir who are to sit as judges6 and, again, listed among the names of the Æsir7.  Though lower in the order of these name-lists, Forseti still maintains His place while others are shuffled or removed8, showing His importance to be counted among the number of the Gods.

“Bridge-builder” or “ Presiding One”?

            Beyond these citations, Forseti’s name is also used for a heiti, or by-name, for a hawk, as cited by Jan de Vries’ in Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte9 and specifically found in the Viðbótarþulur úr A (748) & B (757)10.  His name itself it translated as “the presiding one” by Hollander11 and likewise by Jan de Vries as “the presiding [man] at the thing”12.  De Vries also cites that the origin of the word may be *furh-setan13.  Forseti also appears to be cognate, in verb form, to the Old English foresittan meaning “to preside over”14.  The Frisian form, Fosite, is determined by Stephen Schwartz as meaning “bridge-builder/ -setter” which he derives from *pont- and *-sedi through which he determines the proper form should instead be Foseti15.  In addition to this, he theorizes the form Forseti was “a popular etymology, with an unhistorical intrusive r” as a result of the incoming cult of the Frisian Foseti to the Norse lands16.

In the Frisian Legend

            One story much associated with Fosite is the legend of how the Frisians received their law which is found in “Van da tweer Koningen Karl ende Radbod.”  In this legend17, Karl, being Charles Martel, has conquered Frisia and as part of his attempt to integrate the Frisians he desires to know their laws.  Karl charges twelve Foerspreka (related to Old English forespreca, “advocate, mediator,” and foresprǽc, “advocacy, defence”18) from the seven districts of Fresland with the task of bringing him their law.  For five days the Foerspreka ignore their summons until the sixth day they are forced to admit they are unable to disclose their law.  According to their law, which they apparently do know, their failure to respond to the summons after three days amounts to the lose of legal right and thus outlawry.  Having done this twice, Karl gives them three options: be killed, live in unfree status, or be set adrift in a rudderless, oarless boat and left to the mercies of the ocean.  They choose the last option.

            Once their choice is made, they are set adrift out of sight of the coast.  Once left alone, the ocean become very much the punisher and causes the twelve much grief.  In this moment of distress and at the behest of the leading asega, generally considered the same as foerspreka and meaning “[customary] law-sayer” (a = OE ǽ, “custom, covenant,” but also “faith, religion”19), the twelve kneel and pray to their god, here implied to be Christ, to take them to the shore, like Jesus’ disciples in the storm, and give them their law, now here assumed not to be known whereas it seemed earlier in the legend.  As an answer to their prayer, a thirteenth man does indeed appear at the stern, brandishing an axe, by which he can steer against current and wind.  This mysterious man steers them to an island where he jumps off the boat and hurls up the turf with his axe, creating a spring.  The twelve asega then silently drink from the waters of the spring and have their law told to them by this thirteenth man, who, after doing so, disappears.  Having learned their law now, the Frisian men amazingly are able to return to their respective districts to give their people their laws.  Whenever there was disagreement, seven would outweigh six.  In the legend, the way the twelve took to the spring is called Eeswey, which is thought to mean “way of the god” according to Richthofen[20].  The spot where the turf was uprooted and the spring ran forth was called Axenthoue, ”axe-mound.”

            Schwartz is right to say the version we have handed sown to us is a later legend adapted for the sake of making historic and Christian a tale which is neither and likely from heathen antiquity[21].  Indeed, the number twelve need not be associated with Christian belief when it can be found readily and in closer similarity in Norse myth.  This legend is very reminiscent of the twelve Æsir faring forth to Urðarbrunnr to discuss the judgements of the day after crossing over water to reach the well.  Fosite/ Forseti appears in each listing of “twelve Æsir” in the Norse lore (see above and endnotes) perhaps showing, though He seems to have been an import from the Frisian lands, His association with a judicial system was stark enough to hold a place among the Gods in that manner.

            Taking this back to the above legend, Fosite would seem to be the apparent source for the Frisian’s law, though this is contested.  Schwartz points to an argument over the term axa, ”axe.”  He poses the possibility of the word axa as an orthographic misprint for the word ara, “oar,” because an axe would not be as useable as an oar would for steering.  His argument therefore leads him to the conclusion that Woden is the god who divinely intervened and gave the Frisians their law[22] saying an oar is much closer to a spear than an axe.  Part of this argument is bolstered by a Middle Low German version on the legend in which the article on the thirteenth man’s shoulder is a bent piece of wood, “een krum holt”[23].  It should be noted here though H. R. Ellis Davidson also cites a source which calls it a golden axe[24].

            The fundamental problem with Schwartz’s argument is his taking the symbolism of the legend too seriously.  For a tale which he cites as being quasi-historical and a myth, he places to much emphasis of the practicality of the axe.  Also he seems to fail the similarity of an axe, single headed most likely, to a rudder.  However, if Northern lore can produce a ship which can fits in a pocket, why not an axe as a rudder?  Regardless of this apparent oversight, his belief in Woden being the god which appears to the twelve asega’s, is countered by the association of this holy site, which, according to Adam of Bremen’s Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum, is Heiligland (modern Helgoland) or Fosetisland[25] (also appears as Fositeland in “The Life Of St. Willibrord”[26]).  The only thing which could disconnect the legend from the site of Fositesland is the yet-unknown possibility of a second island holy site.  For now, no such evidence exists.

            Symbols and geography aside, the legend, assumed here in the favor of Fosite, appears to come from an older myth in which the asega are adrift in the boat as a metaphor for the directionless chaos of having no law.  This is then remedied by divine intervention, perhaps the only story directly relating law to the works of a god in Germanic myth.  Even more so, the story could be derived from a myth in which the twelve are indeed some collection of the Æsir, though unlisted, with the local god in the function of the High Judge and leader.

“Stiller of Strife” or The Great Reconciler?

  The above would make sense, to some degree, by the very nature of His name, in particular the Norse version, compared to the title of the twelve, foerspreka.  With forseti meaning “presiding one,” His role would seem to put Him into the deciding position of a judge to whom men and gods alike appeal for a final settlement.  Complimentary to but different from that is the role of the foerspreka.  In Old English the word forespreca and its associated verb, foresprecan, denote meanings of “advocate, mediator,” and “to speak or answer for, intercede for.”[27]  This refocuses the Norse label of “stiller of strife” into a meaning of Forseti being the last and final voice on the matter of dispute and that His unquestioned judgement comes from a great sense of awe and power which comes with the finality of the decision.  It is not his role, as many interpretations have concluded, to be the one who calls for the mediation[28].  Instead gods and men come as their own forspreka or have a human or spiritual one which argues the case to this Right God.  Glitnir’s Lord task then becomes to determine which is the most right decision for the problem at hand, even to the point of not making everyone happy.

From a Worshippers Point of View

(From here on out, this work will be the author’s opinion and perspective as a result of personal synthesis.  He is not a believer in the genealogies of the myths so no attempt at connections to Baldr and Nanna will be made.)

          On a community level, Forseti is about maintaining the Frith, making him an important figure in rectifying situations with in any communal environment, be it a family, kindred or neighborhood.  Those who call on him in this way and with the problems of an inner-garth need to realize the, often assumed, moniker of “Reconcilor” is not really His main purpose.  Whereas that ideal is associated with Him in popular Heathenry today, with the assumption everyone goes away satisfied, the reality is Forseti is about the three ideas of Right, Need, and Frith.  These will be maintained even if one of the parties does not agree and they will be expected to hold to it. 

His decision may not always come down to right words, but also down to right action.  When the words do not hold and the entity deemed right is still being wronged, Forseti very much can, at most dire Need, be the Presider over a duel as well, usually associated with a more Tiw-like way of thinking, though not the first choice by any means.  The author believes the axe is not only held as a sign of authority, but as a means of enforcement.  Indeed, Forseti’s function is much like Tiw’s but in an intra-community way, as opposed to the inter-community way of Tiw, in terms of war and conflict.  Where Tiw, as a “justice” god, was/is invoked in time of war between men from different groups, Fosite was/is called in times of conflict between men of the same group.  Also in terms of the speech of men, his presiding over arguments makes him an ideal source for help in debates as well.

As a god of frith and righteousness, Forseti also maintains a defensive stand for what is Holy.  Upon the desecration of His spring and the slaughter of animals on His island, the penalty was known to be death, as one of St. Willibrord’s retainer found out on their missionary trip to Fresland from England.  As a ward of Holiness, his ideal is for the perpetuation of the greater good, no matter how hard the burden may be at that time.  The author has used an axe in times past to hallow an area much in the same way as many other Heathen use a hammer.

On the symbolic level, the axe, ship, and water are obvious representations of this god.  To envision the Holiness involved, the author does see the axe as golden but also single edge.  Popular belief in Heathenry has had people assume or feel the axe is double-headed, representing two decisions, though many decisions may have to be made.  The author sees the single edge as symbolic of the authority of one decision, His judgment or rede.  The ship can represent the soul or a dilemma, set adrift and looking for the wisdom to bring it to a firm shore.  The water is a part of the same waters of the Great-Tree which replenish Wyrd’s well, which being ur-old, is the ultimate source of ǽ, “customary law, religion.”  In addition to these, the hawk is a perfect animal with which to associate Forseti, though whether this would have been the thought in Heathen times is anyone’s guess.