Dwarf (mythology)
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Dwarf (mythology)
A dwarf () is a type of supernatural being in Germanic folklore, including mythology. Accounts of dwarfs vary significantly throughout history however they are commonly, but not exclusively, presented as living in mountains or stones and being skilled craftsmen. In early literary sources, only males are explicitly referred to as dwarfs, although they are described as having sisters and daughters, while both male and female dwarfs feature in later saga literature and folklore. Dwarfs are sometimes described as short, however, scholars have noted that this is neither explicit nor of relevance to their roles in the earliest sources. Dwarfs continue to feature in modern popular culture such as in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Terry Pratchett, where they are often, but not exclusively, presented as distinct from elves. Etymology The modern English noun ''dwarf'' descends from ang, dweorg. It has a variety of cognates in other Germanic languages, including non, dvergr and goh, tw ...
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Two Völuspá Dwarves By Frølich
2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultures. Evolution Arabic digit The digit used in the modern Western world to represent the number 2 traces its roots back to the Indic Brahmic script, where "2" was written as two horizontal lines. The modern Chinese and Japanese languages (and Korean Hanja) still use this method. The Gupta script rotated the two lines 45 degrees, making them diagonal. The top line was sometimes also shortened and had its bottom end curve towards the center of the bottom line. In the Nagari script, the top line was written more like a curve connecting to the bottom line. In the Arabic Ghubar writing, the bottom line was completely vertical, and the digit looked like a dotless closing question mark. Restoring the bottom line to its original horizonta ...
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Hypercorrection
In sociolinguistics, hypercorrection is non-standard use of language that results from the over-application of a perceived rule of language-usage prescription. A speaker or writer who produces a hypercorrection generally believes through a misunderstanding of such rules that the form is more "correct", standard, or otherwise preferable, often combined with a desire to appear formal or educated. Linguistic hypercorrection occurs when a real or imagined grammatical rule is applied in an inappropriate context, so that an attempt to be "correct" leads to an incorrect result. It does not occur when a speaker follows "a natural speech instinct", according to Otto Jespersen and Robert J. Menner. Hypercorrection can be found among speakers of less prestigious language varieties who attempt to produce forms associated with high-prestige varieties, even in situations where speakers of those varieties would not. Some commentators call such production ''hyperurbanism''. Hypercorrection ...
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Kvasir
In Norse mythology, Kvasir (Old Norse: ) was a being born of the saliva of the Æsir and the Vanir, two groups of gods. Extremely wise, Kvasir traveled far and wide, teaching and spreading knowledge. This continued until the dwarfs Fjalar and Galar killed Kvasir and drained him of his blood. The two mixed his blood with honey, thus creating the Mead of Poetry, a mead which imbued the drinker with skaldship and wisdom, and the spread of which eventually resulted in the introduction of poetry to mankind. Kvasir is attested in the ''Prose Edda'' and ''Heimskringla'', both written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, and in the poetry of skalds. According to the ''Prose Edda'', Kvasir was instrumental in the capture and binding of Loki, and an euhemerized account of the god appears in ''Heimskringla'', where he is attested as the wisest among the Vanir. Scholars have connected Kvasir to methods of beverage production and peacemaking practices among ancient peoples. Attestations ...
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Fjalar And Galar
In Nordic mythology, Fjalar ( non, Fjalarr ) and his brother Galar ( non, Galarr ), were wicked dwarfs who killed Kvasir and turned his blood into the mead of poetry, which inspired poets. They appear in ''Skáldskaparmál''. Myth Fjalar and Galar murdered a jötunn named Gilling, along with his wife. Their son, Suttungr, searched for his parents and threatened the dwarven brothers, who offered him the magical mead in exchange for sparing their lives. Suttungr took it and hid it in the center of a mountain, with his daughter, Gunnlöð, standing guard. Odin eventually decided to obtain the mead. He worked for Baugi, Suttungr's brother, for an entire summer, then asked for a small sip of the mead. Baugi drilled into the mountain, whereupon Odin changed into a snake and slithered inside. Inside, Gunnlöð was guarding the mead, but he seduced her and persuaded her to give him three sips; Odin proceeded to drink all the mead, change into an eagle and escape. Sources *Snorri Stur ...
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Völsung Cycle
In Norse mythology, Völsung ( non, Vǫlsungr ) was the son of Rerir and the eponymous ancestor of the ill-fated Völsung clan (), which includes the well known Norse hero Sigurð. He was murdered by the Geatish king Siggeir and later avenged by one of his sons, Sigmund, and his daughter Signy, who was married to Siggeir. Völsung's story is recorded in the Völsung Cycle, a series of legends about the clan. The earliest extant versions of the cycle were recorded in medieval Iceland; the tales of the cycle were expanded with local Scandinavian folklore, including that of Helgi Hundingsbane (which appears to originally have been part of the separate tradition of the Ylfings), and form the material of the epic poems in the Elder Edda and of , which preserves material from lost poems. Völsung is also the subject matter of the Middle High German epic poem and is mentioned as in the Old English epic ''Beowulf''. Synopsis Völsung was the great-grandson of Odin and it was Odin's wife ...
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Andvari
In Norse mythology, Andvari ( 12th c. Old Norse: ; "careful one") is a dwarf who lives underneath a waterfall and has the power to change himself into a pike (gedda) at will. Andvari had a magical ring Andvaranaut, which helped him become wealthy. Using a net provided by Ran, Loki catches him as a pike and forces him to give up his gold and Andvaranaut. Andvari cursed the stolen gold which would destroy anyone who possessed it. After the deaths of Brynhild and Sigurd, Gunnar left Andvari's gold in a cave. Years later, Andvari discovered the cave and his lost gold, although his ring was lost forever. In Richard Wagner's cycle of music dramas, ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', the character Alberich is a combination of Andvari and the character of Alberich from the Nibelungenlied The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The ...
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Grímnismál
''Grímnismál'' (Old Norse: ; 'The Lay of Grímnir') is one of the mythological poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript and the AM 748 I 4to fragment. It is spoken through the voice of ''Grímnir'', one of the many guises of the god Odin. The very name suggests guise, or mask or hood. Through an error, King Geirröth tortured Odin-as-Grímnir, a fatal mistake, since Odin caused him to fall upon his own sword. The poem is written mostly in the ljóðaháttr metre, typical for wisdom verse. Structure and history The work starts out with a lengthy prose section describing the circumstances leading up to Grímnir's monologue. The monologue itself comprises 54 stanzas of poetic verse describing the worlds and Odin's many guises. The third and last part of the poem is also prose, a brief description of Geirröth's demise, his son's ascension, and Odin's disappearance. The prose sections were most likely not part of the original oral versions ...
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Álfheimr
In Norse cosmology, Álfheimr (Old Norse: , "Land of the Elves" or "Elfland"; anglicized as Alfheim), also called "Ljósálfheimr" ( , "home of the Light Elves"), is home of the Light Elves. Attestations Álfheim as an abode of the Elves is mentioned only twice in Old Norse texts. The eddic poem ''Grímnismál'' describes twelve divine dwellings beginning the stanza 5 with: Ýdalir call they     the place where Ull A hall for himself hath set; And Álfheim the gods     to Frey once gave As a tooth-gift in ancient times. A tooth-gift was a gift given to an infant on the cutting of the first tooth. In the 12th century eddic prose ''Gylfaginning'', Snorri Sturluson relates it in the stanza 17 as the first of a series of abodes in heaven: That which is called Álfheim is one, where dwell the peoples called '' ljósálfar'' ight Elves but the '' dökkálfar'' ark Elvesdwell down in the earth, and they are unlike in appearance, but by far more ...
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Name Of Freyr
The Germanic god Freyr is referred to by many names in Old Norse poetry and literature. Multiple of these are attested only once in the extant record and are found principally in Skáldskaparmál. Some names have been further proposed by scholars to have referred to the god in the Medieval period, including one from Old English literature. Names Proposed names Scholars have proposed names that may have been used historically to refer to Freyr. In contrast to the first table, these names rely to varying extents on speculation and are not unequivocal. } (the wise one). , - , Þrór , Thror , Related to non, Þróaz ("to grow, to increase"). Has been proposed to mean "The sexually prolific" and "The thriving". , ''Grímnismál'' (49), Ynglingatal (51) , A name for Óðinn, proposed by John McKinnell to have been a name for Freyr due to the description of the Norwegian branch of the Ynglings as 'Þrór's descent' ( non, niðkvísl Þrós) and its use as a heiti for boar in ...
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Yngvi
Old Norse Yngvi , Old High German Ing/Ingwi and Old English Ingƿine are names that relate to a theonym which appears to have been the older name for the god Freyr. Proto-Germanic *Ingwaz was the legendary ancestor of the Ingaevones, or more accurately ''Ingvaeones'', and is also the reconstructed name of the Elder Futhark rune ᛜ and Anglo-Saxon rune ᛝ, representing '' ŋ''. A torc, the so-called "Ring of Pietroassa", part of a late third to fourth century Gothic hoard discovered in Romania, is inscribed in much-damaged runes, one reading of which is ''gutanī (ng)i hailag'' "to Ingwi of the Goths holy". Etymology Old Norse ''Yngvi'' as well as Old High German ''Inguin'' and Old English ''Ingƿine'' are all derived from the Proto-Germanic *Ingwaz. Sound changes in late-Proto-Germanic transformed *Ingwaz into *Ingwi(z) in the nominative case and *''Ingwin'' in the accusative case. His epithet *Fraujaz appears in Old Norse compounds ''Ingvifreyr'' and ''Ingunarfreyr''. In B ...
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Völuspá
''Vǫluspá'' (also ''Völuspá'', ''Vǫlospá'' or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse: ) is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end and subsequent rebirth, related to the audience by a völva addressing Odin. It is one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology. The poem is preserved whole in the Codex Regius and Hauksbók manuscripts while parts of it are quoted in the ''Prose Edda''. Preservation ''Völuspá'' is found in the Icelandic Codex Regius manuscript (ca. 1270) and in Haukr Erlendsson's ''Hauksbók'' Codex (ca. 1334), and many of its stanzas are quoted or paraphrased in the Prose Edda (composed ca. 1220, oldest extant manuscript dates from ca. 1300). The order and number of the stanzas varies in these sources. Some editors and translators have further rearranged the material. The Codex Regius version is usually tak ...
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