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Manny Olds, Head Lunatic
Note: This is all just the ranting of a Lunatic. Unless otherwise noted, there is no support for any of this, either in the lore or from any other Lunatics. Caveat Emptor!
Moon governs the journeying of the moon and decides the time of its waxing and waning. He took from earth two children, known as Bil and Hjuki, as they were coming away from the spring called Byrgir carrying on their shoulders the pail called Soeg and the pole Símul. Their father's name is Viðfinn. These children accompany Moon, as may be seen from earth.
And then later:
Sól and Bil are reckoned among the goddesses, but their nature has been described before.[Gylfaginning, Young translation]
Jack and Jill
went up the hill
to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down
and broke his crown
and Jill came tumbling after.
Does this poem refer to Bil and Hjuki? It could just be the weird notion of an odd antiquarian, Rev. Baring-Gould. There is certainly no evidence to confirm the idea. But maybe this idea is a "click": people who hear it immediately accept is as true, intuitively, and begin to act as if it is old lore and common knowledge. [See my essay on "Revelation in Asatru" for more of my thinking on this.]
If it is a valid connection, what is the story behind the doggerel? I have a notion.
Bil was a child who lived in Midgard with her younger brother Hjuki. Their father, Viðfinn, was not a bad man, but he was burdened by his circumstances. His family was always on the edge of poverty and he had never quite recovered from his wife's death. He loved his children well enough, but he was severe with them--never cruel, but never tender or gentle. He seemed to think that he had to teach them to be hard to live in a hard world.
Bil like a flowering plant that did not get quite enough water. She grew, but she didn't really bloom. Bil was devoted to Mani as a friend and confidante. She often went out into their yard at night and told him about the events of her life. It's hard to say if she thought of him as a god, or if she just used the privacy of the night as an opportunity to speak of her thoughts and experiences. But at each full moon, she made offerings to Mani that were a great sacrifice to her, impoverished as she was. Yet she never asked him for anything. She loved her father and her brother, and endured her life as well as she could.
Mani is not one of the most popular gods, so he was quite aware of Bil, his most devoted follower. It distressed him to see her in so much pain, but he did not feel free to meddle when she never asked him to. He did what he could to help Bil by listening and whispering supporting words on the wind. He was never sure if she heard him, but he thought so.
One year, Viðfinn took a new wife, younger than he was. She was nice enough, certainly not an Evil Stepmother. But it changed things and put even more strain on the family's resources. Viðfinn had thought that a new mother would make things better, but times were still hard and the birth of a new baby was not an unmixed blessing.
The night before the baby-naming, Hjuki was running around the house and spilled the water that had been drawn from the spring in the family shrine for the ceremony. Viðfinn got angry and sent him into the hills to draw more, even though it was at night. Bil slipped out and went along with Hjuki to help him.
On the way back down the hill with the bucket, Hjuki fell and was critically hurt. Bil saw she could not help him and despaired. She finally asked the watching Mani for help, not just with the immediate crisis, but with the whole burden of her life. He took up the children, healed Hjuki, and offered them a new life in his family. Mani adopted Bil and Hjuki as his own children and payed a generous gelt to Viðfinn.
[Here is another version altogether: Mead on the Moon.]
Mani took the children to Fensalir, to be fostered by Frigga. He uses this hall as his base in Asgard, so he saw the children often. They frequently join him on his travels and get to visit Viðfinn and his new family pretty often.
Bil is enjoying being busy without the desperation. She has blossomed into a fine young woman. She essentially works as an apprentice to Frigga and Fulla, getting involved in all areas of the household management. She particularly enjoys looking after the other children that Mani has rescued. I picture her sitting on a bench in the sun, next to a plastered stone wall, mending a sandal or stringing herbs to dry. Always with children and dogs nearby.
Hjuki is a gadget-head. He likes to build and fix things. He particularly likes to travel with Mani and train dogs. I picture him sitting at a workbench, putting together a computer. Or playing with a whole gang of puppies.
And I think that they both have significant roles in the events of Ragnarok that play out at Vingolf and Fensalir, and in the world after that.
Is this story true? I wouldn't put a lot of weight on the details. But I have a strong sense that the overall pattern of it, and the feelings in it, are true. I will act as if it is true until I have a reason to change my mind, anyway.
Last Modified 8 November 1999
Manny Olds, oldsma@pobox.com
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