Astrild (from

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 settlemen ...

: "Love-fire") is a relatively late Nordic name for Amor or Cupid. Astrild probably originated in the writings of the 17th-century Swedish poet

Georg Stiernhielm Georg Stiernhielm (August 7, 1598 – April 22, 1672) was a Swedish civil servant, mathematician, linguist and poet. Life Stiernhielm was born on the family estate Gammelgården in the village Svartskär in Vika parish in Dalarna where his fathe ...

, and has since been used in Nordic poetry, mainly during the Baroque and

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

eras, such as in

Carl Michael Bellman Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as well ...

's 1790 ''

Fredman's Epistles ''Fredmans epistlar'' (English: ''Fredman's Epistles'') is List of Fredman's Epistles, a collection of 82 poems set to music by Carl Michael Bellman, a major figure in Sweden, Swedish 18th century song. Though first published in 1790, it was cre ...

''. Astrild does not appear in Norse mythology; even though the name was used before Stiernhielm as a synonym for the

estrildid finch Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a family of small seed-eating passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills. Despite the word "fi ...

es. Nordisk familjebok'
article on ''Astrild''
(in Swedish)

References

See also