In
Norse mythology, Barri is the place where
Freyr
Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, and weather. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden an ...
and
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 ...
are to consummate their union, as stated in the ''
Skírnismál'':
:Barri the grove is named,
:which we both know,
:the grove of tranquil paths.
:Nine nights hence,
:there to Niörd’s son
:Gerd will grant delight.
:
::—''För Skirnis eðr Skirnismál''
(39)Thorpe's translation
In
Snorri Sturluson's account of the myth (found in ''Gylfaginning'',
37), the place is called Barrey or Barey:
:And nine nights later she was to come to the place called Barrey, and then go to the bridal with Freyr.
:
::—''Gylfaginning''
(37)Brodeur's translation
The meaning of the name is uncertain. Barri is called a grove (''lundr'') but Bar(r)ey is probably an island (''ey'' being the
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 ...
for "island")
[Faulkes 1988.] and could be connected with
Barra
Barra (; gd, Barraigh or ; sco, Barra) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by a short causeway. The island is name ...
, one of the
Hebrides islands
The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebri ...
, which was once called Barrey.
[Simek 1996.] The meaning of the first part of the name, ''barr'', is not very enlightening for it has several meanings: "pine needle", "conifer", "tree" or "grain", especially "barley".
Magnus Olsen
Magnus Bernhard Olsen (28 November 1878 – 16 January 1963) was a Norwegian philologist who specialized in Old Norse studies.
Born and raised in Arendal, Olsen received his degrees in philology at Royal Frederick University in Kristiania, ...
suggested that Barri meant "cornfield". This supports his interpretation of the union of Freyr and Gerðr as a
holy wedding between a fertility god and the
Earth Mother. But this interpretation has been contested and Barri could be rendered into "coniferous forest" (as Rudolf Simek noticed, it would be a suitable name for a grove
) and the signification of Barrey might be "barley-island" or "grain-island", which, John Lindow underlined, "makes no sense in the context of a fertility myth".
[Lindow 2002.]
Notes
References
*
Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (trans.). 1916. ''Snorri Sturluson: The Prose Edda''. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
*
Thorpe, Benjamin (trans.). 1866. ''Edda Sæmundar Hinns Froða: The Edda Of Sæmund The Learned''. London: Trübner & Co.
* Dillmann, François-Xavier (trans.). 2003. ''Snorri Sturluson. L'Edda''. Paris: Gallimard. First published in 1991. .
* Faulkes, Anthony (ed.). 1988. ''Snorri Sturluson: Edda. Prologue and Gylfaginning. London: Viking Society for Northern Research. First published by Oxford University Press. .
*
Lindow, John. 2002.
Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs'. New York:
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 ...
. First published in 2001 by ABC-Clio. .
*
Simek, Rudolf. 1996. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. Translated by Angela Hall. First published by Alfred Kröner Verlag in 1984. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. .
{{Norse mythology
Freyr
Locations in Norse mythology