Odin had second sight, and his wife also; and from their foreknowledge he found that his name should be exalted in the northern part of the world and glorified above the fame of all other kings. Therefore, he made ready to journey out of Turkland, and was accompanied by a great multitude of people, young folk and old, men and women; and they had with them much goods of great price. And wherever they went over the lands of the earth, many glorious things were spoken of them, so that they were held more like gods than men. They made no end to their journeying till they were come north into the land that is now called Saxland; there Odin tarried for a long space, and took the land into his own hand, far and wide.
In that land Odin set up three of his sons for land-wardens. One was named Vegdeg: he was a mighty king and ruled over
East Saxland; his son was Vitgils; his sons were Vitta, Heingistr's father, and Sigarr, father of Svebdeg, whom we call Svipdagr. The second son of Odin was
{p. 8}
Beldeg, whom we call
Baldr: he had the land which is now called
Westphalia. His son was Brandr [...] These the forefathers ruled over what is now called
Frankland; and thence is descended the house known as Völsungs. From all these are sprung many and great houses.
Then Odin began his way northward, and came into the land which they called
Reidgothland; and in that land he took possession of all that pleased him. He set up over the land that son of his called Skjöldr [...] these are the kings of the
Danes. And what was then called
Reidgothland is now called
Jutland.
V
After that he went northward, where the land is called
Sweden; the king there was named Gylfi. When the king learned of the coming of those men of Asia, who were called Æsir, he went to meet them, and made offer to them that Odin should have such power in his realm as he himself wielded. [...]
The fields and the choice lands in that place seemed fair to Odin, and he chose for himself the site of a city which is now called
Sigtún. There he established chieftains in the
{p. 9}
fashion which had prevailed in
Troy; he set up also twelve head-men to be doomsmen over the people and to judge the laws of the land; and he ordained also all laws as, there had been before, in
Troy, and according to the customs of the Turks. After that he went into the north, until he was stopped by the sea, which men thought lay around all the lands of the earth; and there he set his son over this kingdom, which is now called
Norway. This king was Sæmingr; the kings of Norway trace their lineage from him [...] Odin had with him one of his sons called Yngvi, who was king in Sweden after him; and those houses come from him that are named
Ynglings. The Æsir took wives of the land for themselves, and some also for their sons; and these kindreds became many in number, so that throughout
Saxland,
and thence all over the region of the north, they spread out until their tongue, even the speech of the men of Asia, was the native tongue over all these lands. Therefore men think that they can perceive, from their forefathers' names which are written down, that those names belonged to this tongue, and that the Æsir brought the tongue hither into the northern region, into Norway and into Sweden, into Denmark and into Saxland. But in England there are ancient lists of land-names and place-names which may show that these names came from another tongue than this.
Re: Turkland in Norse Mythology
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Originally Posted by Magister Militum Flavius Aetius
Peter Heather's argument is for Altaic or Bulgar.
