Fárbauti (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: ) is a

jötunn A (also jotun; in the normalised scholarly spelling of Old Norse, ; ; plural / ) or, in Old English, (plural ) is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, they are often contrasted with gods (Æsir and Vanir) ...

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

. In all sources, he is portrayed as the father of

Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Na ...

. Fárbauti is attested in the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been t ...

'', written in the 13th century by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...

, and in

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech in the type of circumlocution, a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English po ...

s of

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

skalds.

Name

The

name has been translated as 'dangerous striker', 'anger striker', or 'sudden-striker'. It is a

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...

formed with the noun ('hostility, danger, unfortunateness, falseness') attached to the verb ('to strike').

Attestations

Faroe stamp 498 Djurhuus poems - Loki Laufey's Son

Two 10th-century skalds call Loki "son of Fárbauti", using, however, the poetic word ''mögr'' for 'son' rather than the usual ''sonr''. The skald

Úlfr Uggason Úlfr Uggason ( Modern Icelandic: ) was an Icelandic skald who lived in the last part of the tenth century. The '' Laxdæla saga'' tells how he composed his ''Húsdrápa'' for a wedding. Geirmundr married Þuríðr, whose father, Óláfr pái ( ...

is quoted referring to Loki as "Fárbauti's terribly sly son", and the skald

Þjóðólfr of Hvinir Þjóðólfr ór Hvini (anglicized as Thjódólf of Hvinir or Thiodolf; fl. late 9th–early 10th c. AD), was a Norwegian skald, said to have been one of the court-poets of the semi-legendary Norwegian king Harald Fairhair. His name suggests that h ...

mentions Loki as "Fárbauti's son". In ''

Gylfaginning ''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; c. 20,000 words; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'' after the Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' deals with t ...

'' ('The Beguiling of

Gylfi In Norse mythology, Gylfi (Old Norse: ), ''Gylfe'', ''Gylvi'', or ''Gylve'' was the earliest recorded king in Scandinavia. He often uses the name Gangleri when appearing in disguise. The traditions on Gylfi deal with how he was tricked by the god ...

'), the enthroned figure of

High High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

states that Loki is the son of the

Fárbauti, and that "

Laufey Laufey (Old Norse: ) or Nál is a figure in Norse mythology and the mother of Loki. The latter is frequently mentioned by the matronymic ''Loki Laufeyjarson'' (Old Norse 'Loki Laufey's son') in the ''Poetic Edda'', rather than the expected trad ...

or Nál is his mother". In ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda''. The section consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bragi, the god of poetry, in ...

'' ('The Language of Poetry'), Fárbauti is mentioned among

s referring to his son Loki.

Theories

Axel Kock has proposed Fárbauti's name and character may have been inspired by the observation of the natural phenomena surrounding the appearance of

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

. If ''Fárbauti'' as "dangerous striker" refers to "

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

", the figure would appear to be part of an early nature myth alluding to wildfire (Loki) being produced by lightning (Fárbauti) striking dry tinder such as leaves (Laufey) or pine needles (Nál). Although only indirectly attested in a kenning of ''

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 ...

'' ('Prophecy of the

Völva In Germanic paganism, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future events and perform sorcery. They are also referred to with many other names meaning "prophetess", "staff bearer", "wise woman" and "sorceress", and they are ...

') mentioning Loki as "Byleist’s brother", some scholars have considered Loki's brothers

Helblindi Helblindi (Old Norse: , 'Helblind') is a jötunn in Norse mythology. According to 13th-century poet Snorri Sturluson, he is the brother of Loki and Býleistr. Name The Old Norse name Helblindi has been translated as 'Helblind'. Helblindi is al ...

and

Býleistr Býleistr (Old Norse: ; also Byleist) is the brother of Loki in Norse mythology. Name The meaning of the Old Norse name is uncertain. The most popular propositions are compounds formed with the word ('storm'), either as ('storm-relieving'), ...

to also be sons of Fárbauti. However, their exact role in the presumably ancient mythic complex surrounding Loki's family remains largely unclear.; Kock (1899:100–102).

Notes

References

* * *Guelpa, Patrick (2009). ''Dieux & Mythes Nordique''. Presses Universitaires du Septentrion. . *Kock, Axel (1899). "Etymologisch-mythologische Untersuchungen" in: Brugmann, K. & Streitberg, W. (Eds.) ''Indogermanische Forschungen: Zeitschrift für indogermanische Sprach- und Altertumskunde, Vol. 10'', pp. 90–111. Strassburg: Karl J. Trübner. * * * Rydberg, Viktor (2003). ''Our Father's Godsaga: Retold for the Young''. Lincoln: iUniverse. . * *Sykes, Egerton (2002). ''Who's Who in Non-Classical Mythology''. New York: Routledge. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Farbauti Jötnar Loki Lightning