Grottasongr

Fenja and Menja in the mill.

Gróttasöngr o Grótti's Song is an old Norse poem, sometimes reckoned among the poems of the poetic Edda. It is preserved in one of the manuscripts of the prosaic Edda of Snorri Sturluson along with a myth that explains its context. The myth has also survived independently but greatly modified as a Scandinavian fairy tale called Why the Sea is Salty, collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in his Norske Folkeeventyr. On the other hand, Gróttasöngr had great social and political impact in Sweden during century XX when it was modernized in the form of Den nya Grottesången by Viktor Rydberg.

Snorri reports that Skjöldr ruled the country that is now Denmark. Skjöldr had a son named Fridleifr who succeeded him on the throne. Fridleifr had a son named Fródi who became king after Fridleifr, and this was at the time when Caesar Augustus proclaimed peace on earth. The same peace reigned in Scandinavia; there was called the peace of Fródi. The north was so peaceful that no man hurt another, even if they met the murderer of his father or his brother. No man stole and a golden ring could rest in the Jellinge moorlands for a long time.

King Fródi visited Sweden, and his king Fjölnir bought two giant slaves called Fenja and Menja who were large and strong. In Denmark, there were two huge millstones that were so large that there was no man strong enough to use them. However, the man who used them could ask them to produce whatever they wanted. This mill was called "Grótti" and had been given to Fródi by Hengikjopt.

Fródi had Fenja and Menja tied to the mill and asked them to grind gold, peace and happiness for him. He did not give them rest, nor did he allow them to sleep more than the time of a song or the silence of the cuckoo. In revenge Fenja and Menja began to sing a song called "Grótti's song" (the poem itself) and before they finished, they had produced a crowd led by a sea king called Mysing. Mysing attacked Fródi during the night and killed him and left with a huge booty. This was the end of Fródi's peace.

Mysing took Grótti as well as Fenja and Menja and asked them to grind salt. At midnight, they asked Mysing if he did not have enough salt, but he asked them to grind more. They ground only a little more and immediately the ship sank. A giant whirlwind (Maelstrom of Mal - mill and ström - stream) was formed in the sea as water passed through the center of the mill stone. Then the sea began to turn salty.

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