My daughter and I recently read Favorite Norse Myths, by Mary Pope Osborne (who happens to be the author of the Magic Tree House books, which made this book an easy sell). It’s a beautifully written book, and her take on the ice maiden Gerd’s marriage to the sun god Frey is especially eloquant (though it seems to be a bit of an addition to the oldest versions of the tale):
Gerd was filled with cold fury when she went to the forest of Barri nine days later. The giant ice maiden could not believe she was being forced to marry the god of sunshine and rain.
But as soon as Gerd laid eyes on gentle, handsome Frey, her heart melted like the frozen ground beneath the summer sun. And as soon as she embraced him, flowers blossomed in all the fields.
– Marriage of the Ice Maiden, from Favorite Norse Myths, retold by Mary Pope Osborne, p. 57
This is a story of the spring sun overcoming the cold of winter, much like what takes place in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis. The sun always wins. This is a theme woven into the fabric of the universe.
It brings to mind a favorite quote of Jonathan Edwards I have shared before (from his sermon on John 8:12, ‘I am the Light of the World’):
Is Christ Jesus the light of the world? What glorious times will those be when all nations shall submit themselves to him, when this glorious light shall shine into every dark corner of the earth, and shall shine much more brightly and gloriously than ever before. It will be like the rising of the sun after a long night of darkness, after the thick darkness had been ruling and reigning over all nations and poor mankind had been groping about in gross darkness for many ages. When this glorious morning comes, then those that never saw light before shall see it and be astonished at its glory. Then the world, which has been in a kind of dead sleep for this many ages, shall rouse up and begin [to] open their eyes and look forth to behold this glorious light of the world; then will the sweet music of God’s praises begin to be heard.
Then will Christ say unto his spouse, as in Isaiah 60, at the beginning:
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For the Gentiles shall then come unto her light, and kings to the brightness of her rising.” Now, indeed, darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon his church and his glory shall be seen upon her. Then shall “the light of the moon be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold” (Isaiah 30:26). The world has had a long winter of sin and ignorance; for many ages has the Sun of Righteousness been in the Tropic of Capricorn; but when this time comes the world will enjoy a glorious spring: then holiness and God’s kingdom shall revive as the fields and trees revive in spring. Then shall the time come when all creatures shall praise the Lord, and the mountains shall break forth into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands…
Spring and sun win, and everybody has a sense of it. Even though the sun disappears in the brightness of Christ, the sun wins, because Jesus is our greater Sun, the Light of the world.
