In historical
Germanic society, ( non, níð ang, nīþ, nīð; odt, nīth); was a term for a
social stigma
Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, rac ...
implying the loss of
honour
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...
and the status of a
villain
A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...
. A person affected with the stigma is a ( non, níðingr/, ang, nīðing, nīðgæst, or goh, nidding).
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
retained a cognate , meaning 'envy' (compare modern Dutch and modern German ), 'hate', or 'malice'.
A related term is , carrying the connotation of 'unmanliness'.
Níð, argr, ragr and ergi
''
Ergi
(noun) and (adjective) are two Old Norse terms of insult, denoting effeminacy or other unmanly behaviour. ' (also ') is "unmanly" and ''ergi'' is "unmanliness"; the terms have cognates in other Germanic languages such as ', ', ''arag'', ''arug ...
'' and ''argr'' or ''ragr'' can be regarded as specifying swearwords. ''Ergi'', ''argr'' and ''ragr'' were the severe insults made by calling someone a ''coward'', and due to its severity old Scandinavian laws demanded retribution for this accusation if it had turned out unjustified. The Icelandic
Gray Goose Laws
The Gray (Grey) Goose Laws ( is, Grágás {{IPA-is, ˈkrauːˌkauːs}) are a collection of laws from the Icelandic Commonwealth period. The term ''Grágás'' was originally used in a medieval source to refer to a collection of Norwegian laws an ...
referred to three words that were regarded as equal to ''argr'' by themselves. Those were ''ragr'', ''strodinn'', and ''sordinn'', all three meaning the passive role of a man in sexual activities, being womanly, and being subserviant. Another semantic belonging to ''argr'', ''ragr'' and ''ergi'' was, from the ''Gray Goose'', "being a sorcerer's friend."
Examples from Old Scandinavian Laws: The ''Gulathing'' law
referred to "being a male
bottom
Bottom may refer to:
Anatomy and sex
* Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or dominant
* Bottom (sex), a term used by gay couples and BDSM
* Buttocks or bottom, part of th ...
," "being a
thrall
A thrall ( non, þræll, is, þræll, fo, trælur, no, trell, træl, da, træl, sv, träl) was a slave or serf in Scandinavian lands during the Viking Age. The corresponding term in Old English was . The status of slave (, ) contrasts with ...
(slave)," "being a
seiðmaðr (wizard)," the ''Bergen/Island''
law referred to "being a
seiðmaðr," "being a sorcerer and/or desiring same-sex activities as a
assivemale (''kallar ragann'')," the ''Frostothing'' law
to "desiring male same-sex activities as a bottom."
Thus, it is apparent that ''ergi'' of a ''níðingr'' was strongly connoted not only with sorcery, unmanliness, weakness, and
effeminacy
Effeminacy is the embodiment of traits and/or expressions in those who are not of the female sex (e.g. boys and men) that are often associated with what is generally perceived to be feminine behaviours, mannerisms, styles, or gender roles, rathe ...
but also especially with lecherousness or sexual perversion in the view of Old Scandinavian people during the Early and High Middle Ages. ''Ergi'' of females was considered as excessive lecherousness bordering raging madness, ''ergi'' of males as perversity, effeminacy and the passive role within
same-sex intercourse between men, while an active role of a man, who had been included into same-sex intercourse, was not tinged by ''ergi'', ''ragr'', ''argr'' or ''níð''.
Scolding and níðstang
''Níðing''s had to be ''scolded'', i. e. they had to be shouted in their faces what they were in most derogatory terms, as ''scolding'' (Anglo-Saxon , Norse , Icelandic , OHG , Modern German ; compare ''scoff'', Modern Dutch , Anglo-Saxon , and ) was supposed to break the concealing ''seiðr'' spell and would thus force the
fiend to give away its true nature.
The actual meaning of the adjective or nglo-Saxon was the nature or appearance of effeminacy, especially by obscene acts. was the worst, most derogatory swearword of all known to the Norse language. According to Icelandic law, the accused was expected to kill the accuser at once.
If the accused did not retort by violent attack, either right on the spot or by demanding , yielding either the challenging accuser to take his words back or the accuser's death, he was hence proven to be a weak and cowardly by not retorting accordingly.
Beside by words, ''scolding'' could also be performed by pejorative visual portrayals, especially by so-called ''níðstang''s or ''nīþing poles''. These were usually single poles with a carved man's head, on which a horse or a horse's head was impaled. In two attested instances (''Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa'' ch. 17, ''Gísla saga Súrssonar''), two ''níðstang''s were arranged so as to suggest homosexual intercourse.
A "classical definition of ''ergi'' is found in the ''scoldings'' (see section below) of opposing warriors Gudmund and Sinfyötli in the ''New Helgi song'', offending each other as ''earg'' and thus challenging each other before a fight. Gudmund perjorates Sinfyötli in verse 36:
:Verse 36
:Prince you cannot
:talk about me
:like that,
:scolding a
:noble man.
:For you ate
:a wolf's treat,
:shedding your brother's
:blood, often
:you sucked on wounds
:with an icy maw,
:creeping to
:dead bodies,
:being hated by all.
and in following verses 37-39 Sinfyötli rebuts this:
Verse 37
Walkury, an abhorrent
monster have you been
frightening, and ''earg'',
by Odin!
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 ...
s
fought in desire
about you
stubborn whore.
Verse 38
Hag on Warinsey Island
that was you
so insidiously
conjuring illusions.
You said that
the only warrior
you desired to marry
was I, Sinfyötli.
Verse 39
On
Sága's Inlet
you gave birth
to nine wolves
fathered by
Sinfyötli.
In accordance with these more detailed descriptions of what constituted as appearing in the ''New Helgi song'', the ''Gulathing'' law
referred to ''eacans'' swearwords further describing as "being a mare," "being a pregnant animal," "being a bitch," "having indecent intercourse with animals," the ''Bergen/Island'' law
referred to "biting another man," "being a pregnant animal," the ''Frostothing'' law
to "being a female animal," the ''Uplandslag'' law to "having sexual intercourse with an animal."
It's worth to note that such activities as being "a pregnant animal" and having intercourse with animals are activities which are attributed to the god
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 ...
in ''
Lokasenna
''Lokasenna'' (Old Norse: 'The Flyting of Loki', or 'Loki's Verbal Duel') is one of the poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. The poem presents flyting between the gods and Loki. It is written in the ljóðaháttr metre, typical for wisdom verse. ''Lo ...
'' and ''
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 ...
''.
Nīþ and criminality
The ''seiðr'' used prominently by ''níðing''s was linguistically closely linked to botany and poisoning.
Therefore, ''seiðr'' to a degree might have been regarded as identical to murder by poisoning. This Norse concept of poisoning based on magic was equally present in Roman law:
heequality in Germanic and Roman law about equalling poisoning and magic was not created by influence of Roman laws upon Germanic people, even though an identical conception was indeed manifest in Roman law. This apparent likeness is probably based upon the shared original primitive conceptions about religion due to a shared Indo-European origin of both people.
''Níðing'' poisoning ties in with the legal Germanic differentiation of ''murder'' and ''killing''. Criminal murder differed from legitimate killing as by being performed in secret insidiously, away from the eyes of the community that had not been involved in the matter.
Sorcery n Norse antiquityequalled mysteriously utilizing evil forces, just as mysterious and abhorrent a crime as sexual deviancy. As for theft and murder, even more recent common Old Scandinavian belief still regarded them to be so closely associated to magical practices as to be entirely impossible without these latter. Those that were capable of breaking open heavy locks at night without being noticed by watchdogs nor waking up people had to be in command of supernatural abilities. Equally weird were those that were capable of murdering innocent lives. They were aided, guided, or coerced by an evil force to do their evil deeds.
Since sorcery "was not accepted officially, it could not serve the kinship as a whole, only private cravings; no decent person was safe from the secret arts of sorcerers,"
and as nīþ was insidiousness, a níðing was also thought to be a pathological liar and an oathbreaker, prone to committing perjury and especially treason. Summing up the relations between ''nīþ'' and criminality:
Severe misdeeds were perjury deeds, especially if they had been committed insidiously and in secret. Such perpetrators were ''nithing''s, despicable beings. Their perjury deeds included: Murder, theft, nightly arson, as well as any deeds that harmed the kinship's legally protected rights (treason, deserting to the enemy, deserting from the army, resisting to fight in a war, and perversion). urthermore these deeds includedany crimes offending the deities, such as breaking a special peace treaty (for example ''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 ...
'' peace, armistice, security of the ceremony places and buildings, or a special festivity peace), trespass, defilement of graves, sorcery, finally all perjury deeds indicating moral degeneration, such as oathbreaking, perversion, acts of nasty cowardness . e. any actsof moral degeneration.
This excessive mass of ''níðing'' associations might at first seem cumbersome and without any recognizable pattern. However the pattern behind it is outlined in the following sections.
The immediate consequence of being proven a ''níðing'' was outlawing the exile. (see for example
)
The outlawed did not have any rights, he was ''exlex'' (Latin for "outside of the legal system"), in Anglo-Saxon ''utlah'', Middle Low German ''uutlagh'', Old Norse ''utlagr''. Just as feud yielded enmity among kinships, outlawry yielded enmity of all humanity.
"Nobody is allowed to protect, house, or feed the outlaw. He must seek shelter alone in the woods just like a wolf."
"Yet that is but one aspect of outlawry. The outlaw is not only expelled from the kinship, he is also regarded henceforth as an enemy to mankind."
Ancient dehumanizing terms meaning both "wolf" and "strangler" were common as synonyms for outlaws: OHG ''warc'', Salian ''wargus'', Anglo-Saxon ''wearg'', Old Norse ''vargr''.
Outlaws were regarded as physically and legally dead,
their spouse was seen as widow or widower and their children as orphans,
their fortune and belongings were either seized by the kinship or destroyed.
"It was every man's duty to capture the outlaw and
..kill him."
''Níðing''s were considered to re-enter their bodies after death by their ''seiðr'' magic
and even their dead bodies themselves were regarded as highly poisonous and contagious.
To prevent them from coming back as the
undead
The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by super ...
, their bodies had to be made entirely immobile, especially by impaling,
burning up,
drowning in rivers or bogs (see also Tacitus),
or even all of the above. "Not any measure to this end was considered too awkward."
It could be better to fixate the haunting evil's body by placing large rocks on it, impaling it . Often enough, people saw their efforts had been in vain, so they mounted destruction upon destruction on the individual fiend, maybe starting by beheading, then entirely burning up its body, and finally leaving its ashes in streaming water, hoping to absolutely annihilate the evil, incorporeal spirit itself.
Nīþ and witchcraft
It was believed that the reason for a ''nīþing'' to resort to insidious ''
seiðr
In Old Norse, (sometimes anglicized as ''seidhr'', ''seidh'', ''seidr'', ''seithr'', ''seith'', or ''seid'') was a type of magic which was practised in Norse society during the Late Scandinavian Iron Age. The practice of is believed to be a ...
'' "witchery" in order to cause harm instead of simply attacking people by decent, belligerent violence to achieve the same end was that it was a cowardly and weak creature, further indicating its being direct opposite of Old Norse warrior ethos.
''Earg'' is often but translated as "cowardly, weak". By definition, any ''seiðberender'' (practitioner of ''seiðr'') was immediately rendered ''argr'' by these very despicable magic practices.
Nīþ did not only motivate practicing ''seiðr'' but was regarded the most likely motivation of all for practicing ''seid''.
The nīþing used its malicious ''seiðr'' magic to destroy anything owned and made by man, ultimately the human race and ''
Midgard
In Germanic cosmology, Midgard (an anglicised form of Old Norse ; Old English , Old Saxon , Old High German , and Gothic ''Midjun-gards''; "middle yard", "middle enclosure") is the name for Earth (equivalent in meaning to the Greek term , "inhab ...
'' itself.
Since primitive societies exclusively attributed their fear of evil sorcerers .e., ''seiðmaðr''to the sorcerer's motivating envy, all Indo-Germanic proverbs on the matter indicate that passive envy easily turns into aggressive crimes. He who envies is not satisfied to passively wait for his neighbours to run into accidents by coincidence to secretly gloat over them (while his gloating habits are widely accepted as a fact), he makes sure that they will live in misery or worse. Envy brings death, envy seeks evil ways.
Hence, the nīþing was regarded as a mythological fiend "that only exists to cause harm and bring certain undoing." Harboring a nīþ was regarded as destroying the "individual qualities that constituted man and genetical relation,"
making deviant, perverse, and ill instead so that this fiend was considered the direct opposite of decent man and its
īþas contagious.
īþingswere aided, guided, or coerced by an evil force to do their evil deeds. Hence, a ''nithing'' was not only degenerated in a general oral
The word oral may refer to:
Relating to the mouth
* Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid
**Oral administration of medicines
** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or oral ...
sense ..it had originally been a human being of evil, fiendish nature that had either sought evil deliberately or had been taken into possession by evil forces unwillingly.
Association with physical disability
''Nithings'' were thought to be suffering of physical ailments and were associated with crippledness. Most notably were limping as an outer indication of being a ''nithing'' (such as in the story of Rögnvald Straightleg whose last name was in fact but an ironic offence as his legs were actually crippled
), and the belief that sorcerers would not only give birth to animals but also to crippled human children.
:
..' a ''nithing'' was not only degenerated in a general ''
oral
The word oral may refer to:
Relating to the mouth
* Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid
**Oral administration of medicines
** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or oral ...
' sense ''
..' This ''
oral
The word oral may refer to:
Relating to the mouth
* Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid
**Oral administration of medicines
** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or oral ...
' degeneration was often innate, especially apparent by physical ailments.''
These physical afflictions were regarded as furthermore supporting weakness of a ''nithing''. It was often hard to distinguish these attributes from actual physical illness, and since "any eeriness and incomprehensibility was what made people suspect a person of being a ''nithing'', whether this was based upon physical anomalies or mental traits", they were often regarded as ''mentally ill'' even during ancient times already, as defined by actually or perceivedly deviant social behaviour and feeling.
Association with effeminacy
''Nithings'' sometimes practiced ''seid'' in female clothes regardless of their biological sex, and they were considered to lose their physical biological sex by that act if they had been male before.
More recent dialect forms of ''seid'' linguistically link it to "female sex organs."
Also, there exists (or existed) evidence on the
Golden Horns of Gallehus
The Golden Horns of Gallehus were two horns made of Sheet metal, sheet gold, discovered in Gallehus, north of Møgeltønder in Southern Jutland, Denmark.[robes
A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. Unlike garments described as capes or cloaks, robes usually have sleeves. The English word ''robe'' derives from Middle English ''robe'' ("garment"), borrowed from Old French ''robe'' ("booty, spoils" ...]
, as do priests of other religions, in order to manipulate the genderless spirits).
According ''eacans'' in the ''Gulathing'' law
were "having born children as a male," "being a male whore," while the ''Gray Goose''
referred to "being a woman each ninth night," and "having born children as a male."
Runestones
Although no runic inscription uses the terms ''níð'' or ''níðingr'', several
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 ...
runestones use the term ''oníðingr'', which with the ''o-'' prefix means the opposite of ''níðingr'', to describe a man as being virtuous.
Rundata
The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base ( sv, Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way f ...
translates this term as "unvillainous." This term is used as a descriptive term on
runestones
A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones da ...
Ög 77 in Hovgården, Sö 189 in Åkerby,
Sm 5 in Transjö, Sm 37 in Rörbro, Sm 147 in Vasta Ed, and DR 68 in Århus,
[Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk](_blank)
- Rundata
The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base ( sv, Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way f ...
. and appears as a name or part of a name on inscriptions Ög 217 in Oppeby,
Sm 2 in Aringsås, and Sm 131 in Hjortholmen.
The same
alliterative
Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...
Old Norse phrase, ''manna mæstr oniðing
R'', which is translated as "the most unvillainous of men," appears on Ög 77, Sm 5, and Sm 37,
and DR 68 uses a variant of this phrase.
[ pp. 499-500.]
See also
*
Hostis humani generis
(Latin for 'enemy of mankind') is a legal term of art that originates in admiralty law. Before the adoption of public international law, pirates and slavers were already held to be beyond legal protection and so could be dealt with by any nati ...
*
''Malakia'' in ancient Hellenic society (formerly ''Classical definition of effeminacy'')
*
Moral turpitude
Moral turpitude is a legal concept in the United States and prior to 1976, Canada, that refers to "an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community". This term appears in U.S. immigration law beginning ...
*
''Raca'' in Semitic languages
*
Shame-stroke
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nith
Germanic paganism
LGBT in the Nordic countries
LGBT themes in mythology
Medieval LGBT history
Nid
LGBT and society
Sexuality in early Germanic culture
Homophobia
Violence against LGBT people
Social stigma