Heiðrún or Heidrun is a

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

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 ...

, who consumes the foliage of the tree

Læraðr Læraðr is a tree in Norse mythology, often identified with Yggdrasill. It stands at the top of the Valhöll. Two animals, the goat Heiðrún and the hart Eikþyrnir, graze its foliage. Etymology The meaning of Læraðr / Léraðr is unclear. One ...

and produces

mead Mead () is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. The defining character ...

for the

einherjar In Norse mythology, the einherjar (singular einheri) literally "army of one", "those who fight alone"Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. p. 71Orchard (1997:36) and Lindow (2001:104).) are those who h ...

. She is described in the ''

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic me ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''.

''Prose Edda''

''Poetic Edda''

In the ''

'' Heiðrún is mentioned twice. She is described in the ''

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 ...

'' in a way similar to Snorri's description. Since Snorri quotes other strophes of ''Grímnismál'' it seems reasonable to assume that he knew this strophe too and used it as his source for his description of Heiðrún. In the ''

Hyndluljóð ''Hyndluljóð'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Hyndla') is an Old Norse poem often considered a part of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in its entirety only in ''Flateyjarbók'', but some stanzas are also quoted in the ''Prose Edda'', where they ...

'' the giantess Hyndla (lit. ''bitch/she-dog'') used the term "Heiðrún" to insult the goddess

Freyja In Norse paganism, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chario ...

. Thorpe and some other translators translated the name straight to "she-goat".

Etymology

The etymology of ''Heiðrún'' remains debatable.Liberman (2016:337–346).

Anatoly Liberman Anatoly Liberman (russian: Анато́лий Си́монович Либерма́н; born 10 March 1937) is a linguist, medievalist, etymologist, poet, translator of poetry (mainly from and into Russian), and literary critic. Liberman is a pro ...

suggests that ''Heiðþyrnir'', the name of the lowest heaven in Scandinavian mythology (from ''heið'' "bright sky"), was cut into two, and on the basis of those halves the names the heavenly goat ''Heiðrún'' and of the heavenly stag

Eikþyrnir Eikþyrnir (Old Norse: , "oak-thorny")Orchard (1997:36). or Eikthyrnir, is a stag which stands upon Valhalla in Norse mythology. The following is related in the Gylfaginning section of Snorri Sturluson's ''Prose Edda'' after the description of He ...

were formed (the element ''rún ~ run'' concealed several puns, but it is a common suffix of female names).Liberman (2016:345). The etymology of the

New High German New High German (NHG; german: Neuhochdeutsch (Nhd.)) is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language, starting in the 17th century. It is a loan translation of the German (). The most important characteristic o ...

name ''Heidrun'' is also debatable. Heiðrún's name is sometimes

anglicized Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

''Heidrun'', ''Heidhrun'', ''Heithrun'', ''Heidrún'', ''Heithrún'' or ''Heidhrún''.

In Popular Culture

* Heidrun is a song by

Amon Amarth Amon Amarth () is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, formed in 1992. The band takes its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking mythology and hi ...

, a Swedish

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band, about the goat Heiðrún.

Bibliography

* Bellows, Henry Adams. Translation of the Poetic Edda. * Eysteinn Björnsson (ed.) (2005). ''Snorra-Edda: Formáli & Gylfaginning : Textar fjögurra meginhandrita''. * Hollander, Lee M. (1962). ''The Poetic Edda''. Austin: University of Texas. . * Jón Helgason (Ed.). (1955). ''Eddadigte'' (3 vols.). Copenhagen: Munksgaard. * Liberman, Anatoly (2016). ''In Prayer and Laughter. Essays on Medieval Scandinavian and Germanic Mythology, Literature, and Culture''. Paleograph Press. . * Young, Jean I. (1964). ''Snorri Sturluson : the Prose Edda''. Berkeley: University of California Press. .

References