HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sinthgunt is a figure in
Germanic mythology Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism. Origins As the Germanic language ...
, attested solely in the
Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...
9th- or 10th-century "horse cure" Merseburg Incantation. In the incantation, Sinthgunt is referred to as the sister of the personified sun, Sunna (whose name is
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 ...
to ''Sinthgunt''),Orchard (1997:112). and the two sisters are cited as both producing charms to heal Phol's horse, a figure also otherwise unattested. The two are then followed by '' Friia'' and '' Uolla'', also alliterative and stated as sisters. As Sinthgunt is otherwise unattested, her significance is otherwise unknown, but some scholarly theories exist about her role in Germanic mythology based on proposed etymologies, and the potential significance of her placement within the incantation.


Etymology

The etymology of ''Sinthgunt'' is unclear. Within the original manuscript, ''Sinthgunt'' is spelled ''Sinhtgunt'' (emphasis added). In the 19th century, Sophus Bugge stuck strictly to this reading, proposing a complex compound based on Germanic ''*Sin-naχt-gund'', i.e. "the night-walking one". As a result of the pairing with Sunna, the personified sun, this etymology has been interpreted as a reference to the
moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
. However, this reading has yielded problems; the moon in Germanic mythology is considered masculine, exemplified in the personification of the moon in
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 ...
,
Máni Máni (Old Norse: ; "Moon"Orchard (1997:109).) is the Moon personified in Germanic mythology. Máni, personified, is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written ...
, a male figure. According to Simek, the historical record lacks evidence for any cult of personified celestial bodies among the ancient Germanic peoples. Schaffner rejects this etymology, as does Eichner, because the first element ''Sinht-'' cannot be based on the presupposed earlier Germanic ''*sinχt-''. Such a Germanic form would have yielded Old High German ''*sīht'' by regular sound change. The amended ''Sinthgunt'' presupposes a Proto-Germanic compound ''*Senþa-gunþjō'', the first element meaning "raid, (military) campaign", the second one "fight". This interpretation fits nicely with other Old High German female names such as ''Sindhilt'' (from ''*Senþa-χilðijō'', with its second element also meaning "fight", cf.
Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
hilðr,
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
hild). Furthermore, Simek also mentions the interpretation "heavenly body, star".Simek (2007:285-286).


Placement

The figures
Fulla Fulla (Old Norse: , possibly 'bountiful') or Volla (Old High German, 'plenitude') is a goddess in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Fulla is described as wearing a golden band and as tending to the ashen box and the footwear owned by the g ...
(''Uolla'') and
Frigg Frigg (; Old Norse: ) is a goddess, one of the Æsir, in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about her, she is associated with marriage, prophecy, clairvoyance and motherhood, and dwells in the wet ...
(''Friia'') are attested together in later Old Norse sources (though not as sisters), and theories have been proposed that the Fulla may at one time have been an aspect of Frigg. This notion has resulted in a theory that a similar situation may have existed between the figures of Sinthgunt and Sól, in that the two may have been understood as aspects of one another rather than entirely separate figures.Bostock (1976:29). Similarly, Wolfgang Beck analysed her as a subordinate goddess from Sunna's retinue, a kind of "situation goddess", based on her unique appearance in the sources. Friedrich Kauffmann grouped Sinhtgunt as a
valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...
in the 19th century, because the elements ''-gund'' and ''-hild'' appear frequently in their names. Stefan Schaffner and Heiner Eichner more recently agreed with him, based on Günter Müller's paper on the valkyries' healing powers. Karl Heim rejected Kauffmann and grouped Sinhtgunt with the Idisi of the first Merseburg Incantation, as a specially defined group of Germanic goddesses.Karl Helm: Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte, Vol. 2.2, Universitätsverlag Winter, Heidelberg 1953, pp. 219, 227.


Notes


References

* Bostock, John Knight. King, Charles Kenneth. McLintock, D. R. (1976). ''A Handbook on Old High German Literature''.
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. * Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''. Cassell. * Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. D.S. Brewer. Germanic goddesses {{good article