Nór (
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 ...
Nórr) is according to the
Orkneyinga Saga the eponymous founder of Norway.
Icelandic accounts
Source material
Nór of
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
appear in “Fundinn Nóregr” (‘Norway Founded’), hereafter called F, which begins the ''
Orkneyinga saga'', and in ''
Hversu Noregr byggðist
''Hversu Noregr byggðist'' ( non, How Norway was inhabited) is an account of the origin of various legendary Norwegian lineages, which survives only in the ''Flateyjarbók''. It traces the descendants of the primeval Fornjót, a king of ''"Gotlan ...
'' (‘How Norway was Settled’), hereafter called B, both found in the ''
Flatey Book ''Flatey'' may refer to either of two islands in Iceland:
*Flatey, Breiðafjörður
* Flatey, Skjálfandi
See also
* ''Flateyjarbók
''Flateyjarbók'' (; "Book of Flatey") is an important medieval Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS ...
''. The term is described differently in different sources.
About Thorri
King Thorri (''
Þorri Þorri () is the Icelandic name of the personification of frost or winter in Norse mythology, and also the name of the fourth winter month (mid January to mid February) in the Icelandic calendar.
In the '' Orkneyinga saga'' (written in the 13th ...
'' 'frozen snow') was son of Snær ('Snow') the Old, a descendant of
Fornjót
Fornjót (Old Norse: ''Fornjótr'') is a jötunn in Norse mythology, and the father of Hlér ('sea'), Logi ('fire') and Kári ('wind'). It is also the name of a legendary king of " Finnland and Kvenland". The principal study of this figure i ...
("king of Jotlandi (also spelled Gotlandi), later known as
Quennlandi and
Finnlandi"). See
Snær
In Norse mythology, Snær (Old Norse Snærr, East Norse Sniō, Latin Nix, Nivis, English "snow") is seemingly a personification of snow, appearing in extant text as an euhemerized legendary Scandinavian king.
Icelandic tradition
In the '' Orkney ...
and
Fornjót
Fornjót (Old Norse: ''Fornjótr'') is a jötunn in Norse mythology, and the father of Hlér ('sea'), Logi ('fire') and Kári ('wind'). It is also the name of a legendary king of " Finnland and Kvenland". The principal study of this figure i ...
for further information. The name
Þorri Þorri () is the Icelandic name of the personification of frost or winter in Norse mythology, and also the name of the fourth winter month (mid January to mid February) in the Icelandic calendar.
In the '' Orkneyinga saga'' (written in the 13th ...
has long been connected with that of
Þórr, the name of the Norse thunder god
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
, or
thunder
Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...
personified.
[Georg Friedrich Creuzer, Franz Joseph Mone, ''Symbolik und Mythologie der alten Völker, besonders der Griechen'', Heyer und Leske, 1822, p. 275.]
A grandson of King Snow, and Frost before that, king Nór marries Hedda (Höddu) daughter of Svaða Jótun that may be seen as descending from the
Scylding
Old English Scylding (plural Scyldingas) and Old Norse Skjǫldung (plural Skjǫldungar), meaning in both languages "children of Scyld/Skjǫldr" are the members of a legendary royal family of Danes, especially kings. The name is explained in many ...
s, from the Kings of
Lejre
Lejre is a railway town, with a population of 3,127 (1 January 2022),[Dan
Dan or DAN may refer to:
People
* Dan (name), including a list of people with the name
** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark
* Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa
**Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...](_blank)
in Denmark. Þorri is the brother of Driva, mother of
Visbur
Visbur or Wisbur (Old Norse "Certain/Undoubted Son"McKinnell (2005:70).) was a legendary Swedish king of the House of Ynglings and the son of Vanlandi. He was burned to death inside his hall by the arson of two of his own sons in revenge for reje ...
, as attested by the scolding poetic genealogy known as
Ynglingatal
''Ynglingatal'' or ''Ynglinga tal'' (Old Norse: 'Enumeration of the Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the ''Ynglinga saga'', the first saga of Snorri's ''Heimskringla''. Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poe ...
, by King
Vanlande
Vanlandi or ''Vanlande'' (Old Norse "Man from the Land of the Vanir"McKinnell (2005:70).) according to mythology was a Swedish king at Uppsala of the House of Yngling in Norse mythology. He was the son of Sveigðir whom he succeeded as king. He ...
(from the land of the
Wends
Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various peopl ...
), as well as Fónn and Mjól, by their father Snow the Old (Snær ins Gamli) – who lived for 360 years. He was an offspring of Frost (Frosti), child of Kári (master of the arctic wind), sibling to Logi (master of the fire – eponymous to
Hålogaland
Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norway, Norwegian provinces in the medieval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a Monarchy, kingdom extending between the Namdalen valley in Trøndelag county and ...
– High Logi), & Hler (master of the sea, also known by the name Ægir, and cognate with Llyr as well as King Lear of Shakespeare, as well as eponymous to
Lejre
Lejre is a railway town, with a population of 3,127 (1 January 2022),[Læsø
Læsø ("Isle of Hlér") is the largest island in the North Sea bay of Kattegat, and is located off the northeast coast of the Jutland Peninsula, the Danish mainland. Læsø is also the name of the municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') on that ...](_blank)
), as well as
Gymir the husband of
Aurboda, whose daughter becomes the famous
Åsynje Gerðr
In Norse mythology, Gerðr (Old Norse: ; "fenced-in"Orchard (1997:54).) is a jötunn, goddess, and the wife of the god Freyr. Gerðr is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the ''Prose Ed ...
.
Chronicon Lethrens'
The ''Chronicle of Lejre'' (“
Chronicon Lethrense
''Chronicon Lethrense'' (Danish: ''Lejrekrøniken'' English: ''Chronicle of Lejre/Leire'') is a small Danish medieval work from the 12th century, written in Latin.
Themes
Unlike ''Chronicon Roskildense'', which deals primarily with information ...
”) written about 1170 introduces a primeval King Ypper of
Uppsala
Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...
whose three sons were
Dan
Dan or DAN may refer to:
People
* Dan (name), including a list of people with the name
** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark
* Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa
**Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...
who afterwards ruled
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
, Nori who afterwards ruled
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, and Östen who afterwards ruled the
Swedes
Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...
. But the account then speaks only of the descendants of Dan. Although not matching, there are some correspondences between the sources. In the B-source (''Hversu Noregr byggðist'') Nór is married Höddu, granddaughter of a King Östen, on her mother Åshild's side. Her and her brother Hrolf of Berg's father, Svaða Jótun appears in a number of obscure genealogies as a descendant from Dan, through Hjörvard Halgison, also named Åsathor Oðinnson who married Helga Friðleifsson; Friðleif was born to
Fróði Fróði ( non, Frōði; ang, Frōda; Middle High German: ''Vruote'') is the name of a number of legendary Danish kings in various texts including ''Beowulf'', Snorri Sturluson's ''Prose Edda'' and his ''Ynglinga saga'', Saxo Grammaticus' ''Gesta ...
King of Denmark, descendants of
Scjöldr, eponymous ancestor of the
Scylding
Old English Scylding (plural Scyldingas) and Old Norse Skjǫldung (plural Skjǫldungar), meaning in both languages "children of Scyld/Skjǫldr" are the members of a legendary royal family of Danes, especially kings. The name is explained in many ...
s.
Both accounts state that great sacrifice was made yearly at mid-winter, whence was derived both the name of the mid-winter sacrifice and the name of the winter month Thorri corresponding to late January and early February in the
Roman calendar
The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. The term often includes the Julian calendar established by the reforms of the Roman dictator, dictator Julius Caesar and Roman emperor, emperor Augustus in the ...
.
The story of Nór
One year, at the time of Thorri's Sacrifice, Gói the daughter of King Thorri suddenly vanished. Thorri held a second feast the following month hoping to learn what had become of Gói. That sacrifice was afterward also observed regularly and known as Gói's Sacrifice and the name of the month was thence named Gói.
When Gói was still not found after three years, her brothers Nór and Gór set out separately in search of her with many folk in their following, Nór and his folk going by land on skis while Gór went by ship and searched the islands and skerries.
Eventually Nór and his following came to the Kjölen Mountains (the Keel) and passed into was later to be called Norway, defeating any who opposed him. F relates in particular that Nór defeated the folk around what was later called the
Trondheimsfjord
The Trondheim Fjord or Trondheimsfjorden (), an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, is Norway's third-longest fjord at long. It is located in the west-central part of the country in Trøndelag county, and it stretches from the municipality of Ørland in ...
, that Nór also took possession of the eastern lands near Lake Mjors (modern lake
Mjøsa
Mjøsa is Norway's largest lake, as well as one of the deepest lakes in Norway and in Europe. It is the fourth-deepest lake in Norway. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about north of the city of Oslo. Its main tributary is the rive ...
), then slew King Sokni, the eponym of Sokna Dale (modern
Sogndal
Sogndal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansverk is the administrative center of Sogndal municipality. Other villages i ...
) and Sognefjörd (modern
Sognefjorden
The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden (, en, Sogn Fjord), nicknamed the King of the Fjords ( no, Fjordenes konge), is the largest and deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches inland from the ocean to the smal ...
) and took possession of his kingdom. But B mentions instead the defeat of four kings named Véi, Vei, Hunding (''Hundingr''), and Heming (''Hemingr'').
Then, in Heidemark (approximately the modern region of Hedemarken in the more extensive province of
Hedmark
Hedmark () was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar.
Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged i ...
), Nór met with King Hrólf of the Hill (''Hrólfr í Bergr''). Hrólf was son of the giant Svadi (''Svaði'') from
Dovre
Dovre is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dovre. Other villages in Dovre include Dombås and Hjerkinn. The ...
Mountain in the north. According to B Hrólf's mother was Áshild (''Áshildr'') daughter of King Eystein of Heidemark. It was this Hrólf who had taken Gói captive and had then made her his wife. Nór and Hrólf came to terms (after a long single combat according to F). Hrólf kept Gói as his wife and Nór afterwards married Hrólf's sister (called Hödd in B) and became Nór's man.
Both accounts relate that Gór eventually joined Nór and the two brothers made an agreement that Nór would rule all the mainland but Gór would rule all islands around the mainland, that he would be lord over any island that was separated from the mainland by a channel through which a ship with a fixed rudder was able to pass. The mainland was then named Norway (''Noregr'') after Nór. Nór's new kingdom is now said to have been what is south-eastern Norway today, as it extended from
Jötunheim mountains in the north to what was later known as ''
Álfheim'' (roughly the modern Swedish
Bohuslän
Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea ...
) in the south, the southern border of Nór's land being what is now the
Glomma
The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country.
Geography
At its fullest length, the ...
river whose southwestern course is not very far inside the southeastern border of modern Norway.
The sons and grandsons and later descendants of Nór continually divided their inheritances among themselves so that Norway became filled with many small kingdoms and lordships.
Descendants of Nór
According to B, Nór's sons by Höddu were Thránd (''Þrándr'') and Gard (''Garðr''). B later brings in another son of Nór named Raum (''Raumr''). Presumably either Raum had another mother than Höddu, or Raum's name has accidentally dropped out from the earlier listing of Höddu's sons.
Thránd
Thránd ruled Trondheim (''Þrándheimr'') which was named after him and refers approximately to present day county of
Sør-Trøndelag
Sør-Trøndelag () was a county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. To the west is the No ...
and the southern parts of
Nord-Trøndelag
Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. The county was established in 1804 when the old Trondhjems amt was divided into two: Nordre Trondhjems amt and S ...
, rather than to the city now called
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
.
''
Eireks saga víðförla
''Eireks Saga Víðförla'' is a legendary saga about a Norwegian, Eric the Traveller. He travels to Miklagard, modern Istanbul, with Eric the Dane. There he interacts with a King, possibly the Eastern Roman Emperor, who informs him on Christian ...
'' ('The Saga of Eirek the Traveller') also brings in Thrand as the first king to regin of Trondheim. Thrand's ancestry is not given here, but he is the father of Eirek the Traveller (''Eirekr inn víðfǫrli'') the hero of the saga.
''
Hálfdanar saga Eysteinssonar
''Hálfdanar saga Eysteinssonar'' is a legendary saga from early 14th century Iceland about Halfdan Eysteinsson. The main events appear to take place in the 9th century.
Halfdan's grandfather was Þrándr, the eponymous king of Trondheim, who in ...
'' ('Saga of Halfdan Eystein's son') states instead that Trondheim was named from King Thránd, the father of Eirek the Traveller, but also states that Thrand was son of King
Sæmingr
Sæmingr was a king of Norway according to Snorri Sturluson's euhemerized accounts or Hålogaland. He was said to be the son of Odin or Yngvi-Freyr.
According to the prologue of the ''Prose Edda'', Sæmingr was one of the sons of Odin and the a ...
of
Hálogaland, son of
Odin
Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...
, and that Thránd's mother and Sæmingr's wife was Nauma after whom Naumu Dale was named. For more on Sæmingr see
Sons of Odin
Various gods and men appear as sons of Odin or sons of Wodan/Wotan/Woden in old Old Norse language, Old Norse and Old High German and Old English language, Old English texts.
Thor, Baldr, Víðarr and Váli
Four gods, Thor, Baldr, Víðarr and ...
. Thrand's wife is here said to be Dagmær sister of Svanhvít the wife of Hrómund Grip's son, the protagonist of ''
Hrómundar saga Gripssonar ''Hrómundar saga Gripssonar'' or ''The Saga of Hromund Gripsson'' is a legendary saga from Iceland. The original version has been lost, but its content has been preserved in the ''rímur'' of ''Hrómundr Gripsson'', known as ''Griplur'', which were ...
''. The saga says that Eystein, son of Thrand and Dagmær, married Ása, a daughter of Sigurd Hart (the maternal grandfather of
Harald Fairhair
Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagre Modern Icelandic: ( – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first King of Nor ...
), and she gave birth to Halfdan, the hero of the saga. This places Thrand just three generations back from Harald Fairhair. But this saga seems to be a late and untraditional creation, dating only to the early 14th century.
Gard
Gard son of Nór was also called Gard Agdi (''Garðr Agði''), apparently as ruler of Agdir (''Agðir''): the modern counties of
Vest-Agder
Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway up until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total population of Norway. I ...
and
Aust-Agder
Aust-Agder (, en, "East Agder") was a county (''fylke'') in Norway until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Vest-Agder to form Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . The ...
. Gard Agdi's descendants ruled the southwestern regions of Norway. See
Gard Agdi
Gard Agdi (''Old Norse'' Garðr Agði) appears in the legendary genealogies of '' Hversu Noregr byggdist'' as one of the three sons of Nór, the legendary first king of Norway, and as ruler and ancestor of rulers over southwestern Norway. The surn ...
for details.
Raum the Old
Raum inherited south-eastern Norway and also the northwestern valley of the Rauma river to the western sea which waters the region called Raums Dale (modern
Romsdal
Romsdal is a traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Sandøy, and Vestnes. It is named after the val ...
). Raum in this account also ruled the land of Álfheim to the south. See
Raum the Old
Raum the Old (Old Norse: ''Raumr inn gamli'') is a legendary king in Norway in the '' Hversu Noregr byggdist'' and in Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar. He was said to have been ugly, as was his daughter, Bryngerd, who was married to King Álf. Indeed ...
for further details on Raum and his descendants.
Descendants of Gór
Gór had sons named Heiti and Beiti (and according to B two other sons named Meitir and Geitir). Heiti and Beiti often made war against the sons of Nór.
Beiti the sea-king had one of his ships put on sledge runners and so passed in the ship over the snow-covered land starting from what was afterwards called
Beitstad
Beitstad () is a village in the municipality of Steinkjer in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the Beitstadsundet strait at the end of the Beitstadfjorden at the inner end of the Trondheimsfjord, about southwest of the vi ...
on
Beitstadfjorden
Beitstadfjorden () is the innermost arm of the Trondheimsfjord in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the municipalities of Steinkjer, Inderøy, and a small part extends into Indre Fosen. The fjord has a length of from southwest to northe ...
from Beiti's named and passing north across Ellidæid (''Elliðæið'' 'Galley-neck') to Naumu Dale (''Naumudal'') with his father Gór in the ship with his hand on the tiller. So, by the agreement that had been made between Nór and Gór, the land between the path of the ship and the sea became Beiti's.
The names of Beiti's descendants are missing from B. Heiti the sea-king was the father of Svadi (''Svaði''). Geitir was father of Glammi and Gylfi; and Meitir the sea-king was father of two sons named Mævil and Myndil (''Myndill''), Myndil being father of two sons named Ekkil (''Ekkill'') and Skekkil (''Skekkill'').
But F speaks only of Gór's son Heiti as the father of Sveidi (''Sveiði'') the father of Halfdan the Old, who confusingly is named identically to Halfdan the Old who is a descendant of Nór. But it is from Halfdan the Old who is called a descendant of Gór from whom springs at last the Jarls of
Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
who are the subject of the ''Orkneyinga saga''. See
Halfdan the Old
Halfdan the Old (Old Norse: ''Hálfdanr gamli'' and ''Hálfdanr inn gamli'') was an ancient, legendary king from whom descended many of the most notable lineages of legend. A second Halfdan the Old is the purported great-grandfather of Ragnvald Eys ...
to follow this lineage further. A famous family descending from Gór exists to this day in the 42nd generation, the old Hardanger male lineage of
Galte.
Alternative spellings
Alternative Anglicizations are:
* Glói: ''Gloi''
* Gór: ''Gorr''
* Hrólf: ''Hrolf'', ''Rolf''
* Nór: ''Norr''
* Forniot, ''Forniotr''
* Hlér: ''Hler'' ; : ''Kari''
* Snær: ''Snaer'', ''Snœr'', ''Snow''
* Véi: ''Vee''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nor
Medieval Norway
Kings in Norse mythology and legends