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 ...

and later

Icelandic folklore Nordic folklore is the folklore of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. It has common roots with, and has been mutually influenced by, folklore in England, Germany, the Low Countries, the Baltic countries, Finland and Sapmi. ...

, landdísir (

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 ...

dís In Norse mythology, a dís (Old Norse: , "lady", plural dísir ) is a female deity, ghost, or spirit associated with Fate who can be either benevolent or antagonistic toward mortals. Dísir may act as protective spirits of Norse clans. It ...

ir of the land") are beings who live in '' landdísasteinar'', specific stones located in Northwestern

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

which were treated with reverence into the 18th and 19th centuries. The landdísir are not recorded in Old Norse sources, but belief in them is assumed from the name ''landdísasteinar''.Simek (2007:185–186).

Theories

Rudolf Simek Rudolf Simek (born 21 February 1954) is an Austrian philologist and religious studies scholar who is Professor and Chair of Ancient German studies, German and Scandinavian studies, Nordic Studies at the University of Bonn. Simek specializes in G ...

says that the landdísir "are perhaps identical to the ''dísir'', female protective guardian spirits, or else related in some way to the '' landvætter'', Icelandic protective spirits." According to Simek, since the landdísir were believed to live in stones and were venerated there, the practice could represent a form of

ancestor worship The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...

. Simek notes that Icelandic folklore tells of other beings who live in stones and hills, such as dwarfs and

elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...

Gabriel Turville-Petre Edward Oswald Gabriel Turville-Petre (25 March 1908 – 17 February 1978) was an English philologist who specialized in Old Norse studies. Born at Bosworth Hall, Leicestershire to a prominent Roman Catholic family, Turville-Petre was ed ...

theorizes that "the female ''landdísir'', dwelling in their rocks, were probably not far removed from the masculine elves." Turville-Petre connects their veneration to the continental Scandinavian practice of the

Dísablót The ''Dísablót'' was the ''blót'' (sacrificial holiday) which was held in honour of the female spirits or deities called '' dísir'' (and the ValkyriesThe article ''Diser'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1991).), from pre-historic times until ...

(the

sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...

to the dísir), the

Disting The Disting () is an annual market which has been held in Uppsala, Sweden, since pre-historic times. The name ( Old Swedish: ''Disæþing''

(

thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuses ...

of the dísir), and various Scandinavian place names involving the dísir where worship may have occurred. Turville-Petre concludes that "the ''landdísir'' of the

Ísafjörður Ísafjörður (pronounced , meaning ''ice fjord'', literally ''fjord of ices'') is a town in the northwest of Iceland. The oldest part of Ísafjörður with the town centre is located on a spit of sand, or ''eyri'', in Skutulsfjörður, a fjord ...

were dead women ancestors of the people who lived there. They had come to be venerated, being goddesses at once of death, fertility, and rebirth."Turville-Petre (1963:196–201).

Notes

References

* Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. D.S. Brewer * Turville-Petre, Gabriel (1963). "A Note on the ''Landdísir''" as collected in Brown, Peter (1963). ''Early English and Norse Studies: Presented to Hugh Smith in Honour of His Sixtieth Birthday''. London. {{DEFAULTSORT:Landdisir Scandinavian folklore Dísir

Theories

See also

Notes

References