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Bestla
Bestla (Old Norse: ) is a jötunn in Norse mythology, and the mother of the gods Odin, Vili and Vé (by way of Borr). She is also the sister of an unnamed man who assisted Odin, and the daughter (or granddaughter depending on the source) of the jötunn Bölþorn. Odin is frequently called "Bestla's son" in both skaldic verses and the Poetic Edda. Bestla is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and in the poetry of skalds. Scholars have commented on the obscurity of the figure's name and have proposed various theories to explain the role and origin of the giantess. Name The meaning of the Old Norse name ''Bestla'' remains uncertain. Scholars have proposed potential meanings such as 'wife', or ' bark, bast'. It might stem from ''*Bastilōn'' (perhaps a yew goddess, originally a 'bast-donor'), or from ''*Banstillōn'' (via an intermediate form ''*Böstla''), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bölþorn
Bölþorn (also Bölþor; Old Norse: , "Evil-thorn") is a jötunn in Norse mythology, and the father (or grandfather) of Bestla, herself the mother of Odin, Vili and Vé. The figure receives mention in the ''Poetic Edda'', composed in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', compiled by Icelander Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. Scholars have noted that the ''Poetic Edda'' mention may mean that he is the father of the wise being Mímir. Name The name is attested under two variants. ''Bölþorn'' is used in ''Gylfaginning'' (The Beguiling of Gylfi), whereas ''Bölþor'' occurs in ''Hávamál'' (Sayings of the High One).' The Old Norse name ''Bölþorn'' has been translated 'Evil-thorn'.' The variant form ''Bölþor'' would have had no clear meaning to medieval Scandinavians.' Attestations In ''Hávamál'' (Sayings of the High One), Bölþor receives his only mention of the Poetic Edda. ''Gylfaginning'' (The Beguiling of Gylfi) mentions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Borr
In Norse mythology, Borr or BurrThe ''Konungsbók'' or ''Codex Regius'' MS of the ''Völuspá'' reads ''Búrr''; the Hauksbók MS reads ''Borr''. Cf. Nordal (1980:31). The latter form alone was used by 13th-century historian and poet Snorri Sturluson. Cf. Simek (1988:54). (Old Norse: 'son', born;Lindow (2001:90). Thorpe interprets the names ''Buri'' and ''Bör'' to signify 'the producing' or 'the bringer forth' and 'the produced' or 'the brought forth' respectively, linking both to Sanskrit ''bâras'', Gothic ''baurs'', Latin ''por'', ''puer''. Cf. Thorpe (1851:4; 141-2). sometimes anglicized Bor, Bör or Bur) was the son of Búri. Borr was the husband of Bestla and the father of Odin, Vili and Vé. Borr receives mention in a poem in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, and in the ''Prose Edda'', composed in the 13th century by Icelander Snorri Sturluson. Scholars have proposed a variety of theories about the figure. Attestation Bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mímir
Mímir or Mim is a figure in Norse mythology, renowned for his knowledge and wisdom, who is beheaded during the Æsir–Vanir War. Afterward, the god Odin carries around Mímir's head and it recites secret knowledge and counsel to him. Mímir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson of Iceland, and in euhemerized form as one of the Æsir in ''Heimskringla'', also written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. Mímir's name appears in the names of the well Mímisbrunnr, and the names Mímameiðr and Hoddmímis holt, which scholars generally consider to be names for Yggdrasil. Scholars have proposed that Bestla may be Mímir's sister, and therefore Mímir would be Odin's maternal uncle. Etymology The proper names ''Mímir'' and ''Mim'' present difficulties for historical linguists. However, the most generally accepted etymology among philologists is t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ymir
In Norse mythology, Ymir (, ), also called Aurgelmir, Brimir, or Bláinn, is the ancestor of all jötnar. Ymir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, in the ''Prose Edda'', written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, and in the poetry of skalds. Taken together, several stanzas from four poems collected in the ''Poetic Edda'' refer to Ymir as a primeval being who was born from Eitr, yeasty venom that dripped from the icy rivers called the Élivágar, and lived in the grassless void of Ginnungagap. Ymir gave birth to a male and female from his armpits, and his legs together begat a six-headed being. The grandsons of Búri, the gods Odin, Vili and Vé, fashioned the Earth (elsewhere personified as a goddess, Jörð) from his flesh, from his blood the ocean, from his bones the mountains, from his hair the trees, from his brains the clouds, from his skull the heavens, and from his eyebrows the middle realm in whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Óðrerir
In Norse mythology, Óðrerir, Óðrørir or Óðrœrir refers either to one of the three vessels that contain the mead of poetry (along with Boðn and Són) or to the mead itself. Attestations Poetic Edda Óðrerir is mentioned in two ambiguous passages of the ''Hávamál''. In a first stanza (107), it is sometimes assumed that Óðrerir is synonymous with mead of poetry,Simek 1996. but both interpretations are possible. :Of a well-assumed form :I made good use: :few things fail the wise; :for Odhrærir :is now come up :to men’s earthly dwellings : ::—''Hávamál'' (107)Thorpe's translation In another stanza (140), the meaning of Óðrerir depends on the translation. In most translations, Óðrerir seems to refer to a vessel, but other interpretations of ''ausinn Óðreri'' are possible, which can lead to understand Óðrerir to be the mead itself. Prose Edda For Snorri Sturluson, Óðrerir is the name of the kettle in which Kvasir's blood was mixed with honey to create t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odin
Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the runic alphabet, and depicts him as the husband of the goddess Frigg. In wider Germanic mythology and paganism, the god was also known in Old English as ', in Old Saxon as , in Old Dutch as ''Wuodan'', in Old Frisian as ''Wêda'', and in Old High German as , all ultimately stemming from the Proto-Germanic theonym *''Wōðanaz'', meaning 'lord of frenzy', or 'leader of the possessed'. Odin appears as a prominent god throughout the recorded history of Northern Europe, from the Roman occupation of regions of Germania (from BCE) through movement of peoples during the Migration Period (4th to 6th centuries CE) and the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries CE). In the modern period, the rural folklore of Germanic E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vili And Vé
In Norse mythology, Vili ( ; Old Norse: ) and Vé ( ; O.N.: ) are the brothers of the god Odin (from Old Norse ''Óðinn''), sons of Bestla, daughter of Bölþorn; and Borr, son of Búri Name The Old Norse theonym ''Vé'' (or ''Véi'') is cognate with Gothic ''weiha'' ('priest'), both stemming from Proto-Germanic *''wīhōn'', itself from the adjective *''wīhaz'', meaning 'holy' (cf. Goth. ''weihs'', Old High German ''wīh'')''.'' A related noun, *''wīhan'' ('sanctuary'), can also be reconstructed on the basis of Old Norse ''vé'' ('sanctuary'), Old English ''wēoh'' ('idol'), and Old Saxon ''wīh'' ('temple').' ''Vili'' transparently means 'will' in Old Norse. It stems from the Proto-Germanic noun *''weljōn'' ~ *''weljan'' ('will, wish'; cf. Gothic ''wilja'', Old English ''willa'', and Old High German ''willo''). Attestations In Proto-Norse, the three brothers' names were alliterating, *'' Wōdinaz, Wiljô, Wīhaz''), so that they can be taken as forming a triad of *' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hávamál
''Hávamál'' ( ; Old Norse: ,Unnormalised spelling in the :Title: Final stanza: ../ref> classical pron. , Modern Icelandic pron. , ‘Words of he High One��) is presented as a single poem in the Icelandic , a collection of Old Norse poems from the Viking age. The poem, itself a combination of numerous shorter poems, is largely gnomic, presenting advice for living, proper conduct and wisdom. It is considered an important source of Old Norse philosophy. The verses are attributed to Odin; the implicit attribution to Odin facilitated the accretion of various mythological material also dealing with the same deity. For the most part composed in the metre , a metre associated with wisdom verse, is both practical and philosophical in content. Following the gnomic " proper" comes the , an account of how Odin won the runes, and the , a list of magic chants or spells.Larrington, Carolyne. (Trans.) (1999) ''The Poetic Edda'', p. 14. Oxford World's Classics Name The Old Norse na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Numbers In Norse Mythology
The numbers three and nine are significant numbers in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Both numbers (and multiples thereof) appear throughout surviving attestations of Norse mythology, in both mythology and Germanic paganism.. While the number three appears significant in many cultures, Norse mythology appears to put special emphasis on the number nine. Along with the number 27, both numbers also figure into the lunar Germanic calendar. Attestations Three The number three occurs with great frequency in grouping individuals and artefacts: *There were three original beings: the primordial cow Audhumla, Ymir the first giant, and Búri the first god and grandfather of Odin. *For three days Audhumla licked the ice of Ginnungagap until Búri was freed. *Ymir had three direct offspring: a boy and girl who grew from beneath his arms and a six-headed son who sprang from the coupling of his feet. *There were three generations of giants before the race as a whole was destroyed b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galdr
A (plural ') or (plural ) refers to a spell or incantation in Old Norse and Old English respectively; these were usually performed in combination with certain rites.The article ''Galder'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1992) Etymology non, galdr and ang, ġealdor or ' are derived from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic ''*galdraz'', meaning a song or incantation. The terms are also related by the removal of an Indo-European ''-tro'' suffix to the verbs non, gala and ang, galan, both derived from Proto-Germanic ''*galaną'', meaning to sing or cast a spell. In Old High German the ' suffix produced ' instead. The German forms were Old High German ' and MHG ' "song, enchantment" ( Konrad von Ammenhausen ''Schachzabelbuch'' 167b), surviving in (obsolete or dialectal) Modern German ' (witchcraft) and ' (witch). From these terms are descended words such as the Icelandic verb ' "to sing, call out, yell", enm, galder "magic" and as a component of '' nightingale'' (from '), r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benjamin Thorpe
Benjamin Thorpe (1782 – 19 July 1870) was an English scholar of Anglo-Saxon literature. Biography In the early 1820s he worked as a banker in the House of Rothschild, in Paris. There he met Thomas Hodgkin, who treated him for tuberculosis. After studying for four years at Copenhagen University, under the Danish philologist Rasmus Christian Rask, Thorpe returned to England in 1830. In a few years he established a reputation as an Anglo-Saxon scholar. In recognition of unremunerative work, Thorpe was granted a civil list pension of £160 in 1835, and on 17 June 1841 this was increased to £200 per annum. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Munich, and of the Society of Netherlandish Literature at Leyden He died at Chiswick in July 1870. Bibliography In 1830 Thorpe brought out at Copenhagen an English version of Rask's ''Anglo-Saxon Grammar'' (a second edition of this appeared at London). That same year he m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements and chronologically coincides with the Viking Age, the Christianization of Scandinavia and the consolidation of Scandinavian kingdoms from about the 7th to the 15th centuries. The Proto-Norse language developed into Old Norse by the 8th century, and Old Norse began to develop into the modern North Germanic languages in the mid-to-late 14th century, ending the language phase known as Old Norse. These dates, however, are not absolute, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century. Old Norse was divided into three dialects: ''Old West Norse'' or ''Old West Nordic'' (often referred to as ''Old Norse''), ''Old East Norse'' or ''Old East Nordic'', and '' Old Gutnish''. Old West Norse and Old East Norse formed a dialect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
