Gjöll (

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 ...

: ''Gjǫll'' ) is the river that separates the living from the dead in

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 ...

. It is one of the eleven rivers traditionally associated with the

Élivágar In Norse mythology, Élivágar (Old Norse: ; "Ice Waves") are rivers that existed in Ginnungagap at the beginning of the world. The ''Prose Edda'' relates: The streams called Ice-waves, those which were so long come from the fountain-heads that ...

, rivers that existed in

Ginnungagap In Norse mythology, Ginnungagap (old Norse: ; "gaping abyss", "yawning void") is the primordial void mentioned in the Gylfaginning, the Eddaic text recording Norse cosmogony. Etymology ''Ginnunga-'' is usually interpreted as deriving from a ver ...

at the beginning of the world. According to

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 ...

's ''

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 th ...

'', Gjöll originates from the wellspring

Hvergelmir In Norse mythology, Hvergelmir (Old Norse: ; "bubbling boiling spring"Orchard (1997:93)) is a major spring. Hvergelmir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', writt ...

Niflheim In Norse cosmology, Niflheim or Niflheimr (Old Norse: ; "World of Mist", literally "Home of Mist") is a location which sometimes overlaps with the notions of Niflhel and Hel. The name ''Niflheimr'' appears only in two extant sources: ''Gylfaginn ...

, flowing through

, and thence into the worlds of existence. Gjöll is the river that flows closest to the gate of the underworld. Within the Norse mythology, the dead must cross the

Gjallarbrú Gjallarbrú (literally "Gjöll Bridge") is a bridge in Norse mythology which spans the river Gjöll in the underworld. It must be crossed in order to reach Hel. According to ''Gylfaginning'' it is described as a covered bridge, "thatched with g ...

, the bridge over Gjöll, to reach Hel. The bridge, which was guarded by

Móðguðr In Norse mythology, Móðguðr (Old Norse: , "Furious Battler"; also Modgud) refers to the female guardian of the bridge over the river Gjöll ("Noisy"), Gjallarbrú. She allowed the newly dead to use the bridge to cross from one side of the river ...

, was crossed by

Hermóðr Hermóðr (Old Norse: , "war-spirit";Orchard (1997:83). anglicized as Hermod) is a figure in Norse mythology, a son of the god Odin and brother of Baldr. He is often considered the messenger of the gods. Attestations ''Prose Edda'' Hermóðr ap ...

during his quest to retrieve

Baldr Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was kno ...

from the land of the dead. In ''Gylfaginning'', Gjöll is one of eleven rivers that rise from Hvergelmir. In the following chapter, these are called the Élivágar and are said to have flowed in Ginnungagap in primordial times. Gjöll has a parallel with similar mythological rivers from

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...

cultures such as the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

and the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Vaitarani. Gjöll is also the name of the boulder to which the monstrous wolf

Fenrir Fenrir (Old Norse: ; "fen-dweller")Orchard (1997:42). or Fenrisúlfr (O.N.: ; "Fenrir's wolf", often translated "Fenris-wolf"),Simek (2007:81). also referred to as Hróðvitnir (O.N.: ; "fame-wolf")Simek (2007:160). and Vánagandr (O.N.: ; " ...

is bound. The word has been translated "noisy".Snorri Sturluson, tr. Faulkes, p. 161.

References

Other sources

* Bellows, Henry Adams (1923) ''The Poetic Edda'' (American-Scandinavian Foundation) * Orchard, Andy (1997) ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend'' (Cassell) * Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology'' (D.S. Brewer)

External links

''Grímnismál'' (1967 W. H. Auden & P. B Taylor in The Elder Edda)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjoll __NOTOC__ Rivers in Norse mythology Norse underworld

See also

References

Other sources

External links