Turning to the other Gods, Egil Skallagrimsson (about 970)
names Frey and Njoerd as the givers of wealth; Bragi tells the story
of Gefion's dragging the island of Zealand out of Lake Wener into
the sea; and Ulf Uggason speaks of Heimdal's wrestling with Loki.
The legend of Idunn is told by Thjodulf much as Snorri tells it:
Odin, Hoeni and Loki, while on a journey, kill and roast an ox. The
giant Thiazi swoops down in eagle's shape and demands a share; Loki
strikes the eagle, who flies off with him, releasing him only on
condition that he will betray to the giants Idunn, "the care-healing
maid who understands the renewal of youth." He does so, and the Gods,
who grow old and withered for want of her apples, force him to go
and bring her back to Asgard.
The poet of _Eiriksmal_, quoted above, alludes to the Baldr myth:
Bragi, hearing the approach of Eirik and his host, asks "What is
that thundering and tramping, as if Baldr were coming back to Odin's
hall?" The funeral pyre of Baldr is described by Ulf Uggason: he is
burnt on his ship, which is launched by a giantess, in the presence
of Frey, Heimdal, Odin and the Valkyries.
Though heathen writers outside of Scandinavia are lacking, references
to Germanic heathendom fortunately survive in several Continental
Christian historians of earlier date than any of our Scandinavian
sources. The evidence of these, though scanty, is corroborative,
and the allusions are in striking agreement with the Edda stories in
tone and character.
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