Fridfrodi- Norse FigureMortal"Peace-Fróði"

The Peace

Fróði ruled Denmark in an age the Skáldskaparmál sets alongside the reign of Augustus in Rome: a time when no man harmed another and a gold ring could lie on Jællinge heath without a hand reaching for it. The Scandinavians called this era Fróðafriðr, Fróði's Peace, and it became proverbial. When later poets wanted a word for an impossibly perfect age, they used his name.

Fjölnir's Feast

The Ynglinga saga tells how Fjölnir, king of the Swedes, traveled to Denmark to feast at Fróði's hall. The mead flowed so freely it was stored in open vats. Fjölnir rose in the night, drunk and stumbling, and fell into one of those vats. He drowned in Fróði's mead. The skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir recorded the death in his Ynglingatal, one verse for one king, and moved on.

The Mill and the Song

The source of Fróði's wealth was Grotti, a mill so heavy no human could turn its stones. Fróði bought two giantesses, Fenja and Menja, who had the strength for the work. He set them grinding gold and peace for Denmark. He would not let them rest longer than a cuckoo's silence or the time it took to sing a single verse.

The Grottasöngr preserves what they sang at the millstones. They reminded Fróði that they were not servants by nature. They had fought among gods and toppled kings. They warned him. He kept them grinding.

So Fenja and Menja changed what they ground. Instead of gold, they called up an army. The sea-king Mysing came that night with his warships. He killed Fróði and took everything, the giantesses and the mill included. Mysing set them grinding salt aboard his ship. They asked when he would tell them to stop. He said never. They ground until the ship sank, and where Grotti went down the sea pours through the eye of the millstone still, which is why the ocean is salt.