Sinmara

In Norse mythology, Sinmara is a '' gýgr'' (giantess), usually considered a consort to the fiery ''jötunn'' Surtr, the lord of Muspelheim, but wife of Mimir. Sinmara is attested solely in the poem ''Fjölsvinnsmál'', where she is mentioned alongside Surtr in one (emended) stanza, and described as keeper of the legendary weapon Lævateinn in a later passage. Assorted theories have been proposed about the etymology of her name, and her connection with other figures in Norse mythology.

Etymology

Nightmare

The etymology of the name ''Sinmara'' is obscure. However, the name has been associated with the nightmare/succubus spirit ('' mara'') of folklore since Árni Magnússon (Magnæus)'s ''Poetic Edda'' (1787-1828). The "-mara" ending is thought cognate with ''mara'' or "night-mare".. . Sinmara is described as ''nervis '' and lists the cognates oe, Mære, sv, Mara, da, Mare, german: Nacht-Mär, Flemish: ''Nacht-Maer'', Night-Mare 1:295 glosses Sinmara's name as ''. The initial ''sin-'' element is here identified as meaning "sinew" or rather "nerves", so that the total phrase comes out as "nervous (or nerve-afflicting) nightmare". Árni's edition also explained Sinmara to be a sort of "night fury" ( la, furia nocturna).

also embraced the interpretation half-way, stating the name meant "the great ightare", where the ''Sin''- meaning great can be compared to Old High German ''sinfluth'' or ''sinvlout'' 'great flood'.

Adolfo Zavaroni and Emilia Reggio suggest the interpretation "Perpetual-incubus".

It has also been proposed that the ''sin-'' element may refer to ''sindr'' (Old Norse "cinders"). citing . This is consistent with the attestation in the poem ''Fjölsvinnsmál'' that she is ''hin fölva gýgr'' ("the pale giantess", or perhaps "ashes-coloured giantess"). Rudolf Simek, while assessing that ''sin'' cannot be related to the term ''sindr'', states this would equal a "meaningful interpretation in regard to the colour"; he theorizes that a more likely interpretation is "the pale (night-)mare", noting that this would fit the wife of a fire jötunn.

Sinew-maimer

Viktor Rydberg proposed that the name ''Sinmara'' is composed of ''sin'', meaning "sinew", and ''mara'', meaning "the one that maims", noting that ''mara'' is related to the verb ''merja'' (citing Guðbrandur Vigfússon's dictionary), Rydberg concludes that the name ''Sinmara'' thus means "the one who maims by doing violence to the sinews," thus identifying her as Nidhad's wife, who orders Völund's sinews cut to prevent his escape, in the eddic poem ''Völundarkviða''.Rydberg (2004:518) = Rydberg Vol. 2 (1907:518)

''Fjölsvinnsmál''

Sinmara is solely attested in the Eddaic poem ''Fjölsvinnsmál''. The poem refers to her as a pale giantess ('' gýgr''), so she is "probably a giantess".

The poem ''Fjölsvinnsmál'' is a bridal quest, in which Svipdagr eventually gains entry to the mansion that houses his would-be bride Menglöð. Svipdagr (under the pseudonym Vindkaldr) poses questions to the watchman Fjölsviðr ("Much Wise") and gathers intelligence about the mansion. He gleans the fact that the guard-hounds of the mansion can only be distracted by the meat of the rooster Víðófnir. This is where Sinmara figures, as the keeper of Lævateinn, the only weapon capable of slaying the rooster:

-->

That Sinmara will only award the weapon to one who brings her the tail feather of the rooster creates an insurmountable paradox to obtaining it. Fjölsviðr insinuates that a man may succeed in obtaining the weapon Lævateinn if a man carries a certain hard-to-obtain item to Sinmora (here she is referred to as ''eir aurglasis'' or "the goddess of gold"). gives "the dis of the shining arm-ring". Svipdag in turn inquires what treasure it is that would so delight Sinmara (''fǫlva gýgr'' or "the giantess pale")., strophe 45. p. 246. Fjölsviðr then replies Svipdagr must bring the "bright sickle" to Sinmara, and then she will give Lævateinn to Svipdagr:

Sinmara has so far been mentioned twice explicitly, and twice by periphrases. In certain editions and translations, she is mentioned explicitly a third time as a product of emendation (in an earlier strophe than quoted above). Thus in the modified readings of certain editions and in Bellows' translation, Fjölsviðr names Sinmara and Surtr together, and says that the two are endangered by the rooster Víðópnir that sits atop the tree Mímameiðr:

However the original reading of this same strophe does not give mention of Sinmara:

Theories

Henry Adams Bellows comments that Sinmara is "presumably Surt's wife". In the theories of Viktor Rydberg, Sinmara is the wife of Mímir, the mother of Nótt, Böðvildr, "and other night díses". According to Rydberg, the byname ''Sinmara'' refers to "Mímir-Niðhad"'s "queen ordering Völund's hamstrings to be cut".

Hjalmar Falk states that "Sinmara ..is probably no other than Hel, Loki's daughter." He says that Sinmara is specifically called ''hin fölva gýgr'' "the pale giantess" in ''Fjölsvinnsmál'', just as the classical Roman poet Virgil speaks of the pale Orcus, a god of the underworld in Roman mythology, and that Hel is blue or half blue and half light, like the Roman goddess Proserpina, whom Saxo equates to Hel in his ''Gesta Danorum''. Falk further notes that Sinmara is referred to as ''aurglasis Eirr'', which he translates as "the goddess of the gold ring", and compares Hel's being called ''Gjallar sunnu gátt'' "wearer of the necklace" in stanza 9 of the poem '' Forspjallsljóð''. Björn Olsen associates the kenning with ''veðurglasir'', a name of Yggdrasill in stanza 24 of the same poem, and translates ''aurglasir'' as a name for the root system of the world-tree.

Explanatory notes

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{{Norse mythology

Gýgjar
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