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Niðavellir
In Norse cosmology, Niðavellir (anglic. as Nidavellir; probable compound of O.N. ''Nið'' – "new moon", "the wane of the moon" (perhaps related to ''niðr'' – "down") + ''Vellir'' (pl. of ''völlr'') – "fields": ''Dark Fields'', ''Downward Fields''), also called Myrkheimr (''Myrkheimr'', O.N. compd. of ''myrkr'' – "darkness" + ''heimr'' – "home": ''the world of darkness'', ''Dark Abode''), is the home of the Dwarves. ''Völuspá'' It is mentioned in the : ''Stóð fyr norðan, / á Niðavöllom / salr úr gulli / Sindra ættar'' (Stood to the north, a dark field, Halls of gold,[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sindri (mythology)
In Norse mythology, Sindri (Old Norse: , from , "slag") is the name of both a dwarf and a hall that will serve as a dwelling place for the souls of the virtuous after the events of Ragnarök. Sindri is also referred to as Eitri, the brother of Brokkr. A dwarf ''Völuspá'' (37) mentions "a hall of gods, of the lineage of Sindri" located northward, in Niðavellir. There are several reasons to think that Sindri is a dwarf:Lindow 2002. his name is related with forging and the hall is made of gold (dwarves are said to be skillful smiths), the location of the hall is Niðavellir, which possibly means "dark fields" (dwarves live away from the sunlight). In the ''Poetic Edda'', Sindri's name is Eitri.Acker 2002. The names of the dwarves are not given in the three other main manuscripts of the ''Prose Edda'' but in the ''Codex Regius'', an unknown author added more recently the names of Brokkr and Sindri. Despite the difference in names, the story of the dwarf brothers and the creation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norse Cosmology
Norse cosmology is the account of the universe and its laws by the ancient North Germanic peoples. The topic encompasses concepts from Norse mythology and Old Norse religion such as notations of time and space, cosmogony, personifications, anthropogeny, and eschatology. Like other aspects of Norse mythology, these concepts are primarily recorded from earlier oral sources in the ''Poetic Edda'', a collection of poems compiled in the 13th century, and the ''Prose Edda'', attributed to the Icelander Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. Together these sources depict an image of Nine Worlds around a cosmic tree, Yggdrasil. Time and space Concepts of time and space play a major role in the Old Norse corpus's presentation of Norse cosmology. While events in Norse mythology describe a somewhat linear progression, various scholars in ancient Germanic studies note that Old Norse texts may imply or directly describe a fundamental belief in cyclic time. According to scholar John Lindow, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Svartálfar
In Norse cosmology, svartálfar ( O.N. "black elves", "swarthy elves", sing. svartálfr), also called myrkálfar ("dark elves", "dusky elves", "murky elves", sing. myrkálfr), are beings who dwell in Svartálfheim (''Svartálf eimr'', "home of the black-elves"). Both the svartálfar and Svartálfaheimr are primarily attested in the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. Scholars have noted that the svartálfar appear to be synonymous with the dwarfs and potentially also the dökkálfar ("dark elves"). As dwarfs, the home of the svartálfar could possibly be another description for '' Niðavellir'' ("dark fields"). Attestations The ''svartálfar'' are almost only attested in the ''Prose Edda'' (the word does appear in ''Ektors saga ok kappa hans'', but is presumably borrowed from the ''Prose Edda''). The ''svartálfar'' mentioned in ''Skáldskaparmál'' 35 are the Sons of Ivaldi, whom Loki engages to craft replacement hair for Sif, wife of the god Thor, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their Viking expansion, overseas settlements and chronologically coincides with the Viking Age, the Christianization of Scandinavia, and the consolidation of Scandinavian kingdoms from about the 8th to the 15th centuries. The Proto-Norse language developed into Old Norse by the 8th century, and Old Norse began to develop into the modern North Germanic languages in the mid- to late 14th century, ending the language phase known as Old Norse. These dates, however, are not precise, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century. Old Norse was divided into three dialects: Old West Norse (Old West Nordic, often referred to as ''Old Norse''), Old East Norse (Old East Nordic), and Old Gutnish. Old West Norse and O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norse Dwarves
A dwarf () is a type of supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Accounts of dwarfs vary significantly throughout history. They are commonly, but not exclusively, presented as living in mountains or stones and being skilled craftsmen. In early literary sources, only males are explicitly referred to as dwarfs. However, they are described as having sisters and daughters, while male and female dwarfs feature in later saga literature and folklore. Dwarfs are sometimes described as short; however, scholars have noted that this is neither explicit nor relevant to their roles in the earliest sources. Dwarfs continue to feature in modern popular culture, such as in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and Terry Pratchett, where they are often, but not exclusively, presented as distinct from elves. Etymology and meaning Etymology The modern English noun ''dwarf'' descends from . It has a variety of Cognate, cognates in other Germanic languages, including Old Norse ''dvergr'', Old Frisian ''dw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Völuspá
''Völuspá'' (also ''Vǫluspá'', ''Vǫlospá'', or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress') is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It dates back to the tenth century and tells the story from Norse Mythology of the creation of the world, its coming end, and its subsequent rebirth that is related to the audience by a völva addressing Odin. Her name is given twice as Heiðr. The poem is one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology. Parts of the poem appear in the ''Prose Edda'', but the earliest known wholly-preserved version of the poem is in the Codex Regius and Hauksbók manuscripts. Preservation Many of stanzas of ''Völuspá'' appear first in the Prose Edda (composed , of which the oldest extant manuscript dates from the beginning of the fourteenth century () in which the stanzas are quoted or paraphrased. The full poem is found in the Icelandic Codex Regius manuscript () and in the Haukr Erlendsson ''Hauk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niflheim
In Norse cosmology, Niflheim or Niflheimr (Old Norse: ; "World of Mist", literally "Home of Mist") is a location which sometimes overlaps with the notions of Niflhel and Hel. The name ''Niflheimr'' appears only in two extant sources: ''Gylfaginning'' and the much-debated ''Hrafnagaldr Óðins''. Niflheim was primarily a realm of primordial ice and cold, with the frozen rivers of Élivágar and the well of Hvergelmir, from which come all the rivers. According to ''Gylfaginning'', Niflheim was the first of the two primordial realms to emanate out of Ginnungagap, the other one being Muspelheim, the realm of fire. Between these two realms of cold and heat, creation began when its waters mixed with the heat of Muspelheim to form a "creating steam". Later, it became the abode of Hel, a goddess daughter of Loki, and the afterlife for her subjects, those who did not die a heroic or notable death. Etymology ''Nifl'' ("mist"; whence the Icelandic '' nifl'') is a cognate to the O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prose Edda
The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' () or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often considered to have been to some extent written, or at least compiled, by the Icelandic scholar, lawspeaker, and historian Snorri Sturluson 1220. It is considered the fullest and most detailed source for modern knowledge of Norse mythology, the body of myths of the North Germanic peoples, and draws from a wide variety of sources, including versions of poems that survive into today in a collection known as the ''Poetic Edda''. The ''Prose Edda'' consists of four sections: The Prologue (Prose Edda), Prologue, a euhemerism, euhemerized account of the Norse gods; ''Gylfaginning'', which provides a question and answer format that details aspects of Norse mythology (consisting of approximately 20,000 words), ''Skáldskaparmál'', which continues this format before providing lists o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ''Prose Edda'', which is a major source for what is today known about Norse mythology and alliterative verse, and , a history of the Norsemen, Norse kings that begins with legendary material in ''Ynglinga saga'' and moves through to early medieval History of Scandinavia, Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of ''Egil's Saga''. He was assassinated in 1241 by men claiming to be agents of the King of Norway. Biography Early life Snorri Sturluson was born in (commonly transliterated as Hvamm or Hvammr) as a member of the wealthy and powerful Sturlungar family clan, Sturlungar clan of the Icelandic Commonwealth, in AD 1179. His parents were Sturla Þórðarson the Elder o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brokkr
In Norse mythology, Brokkr (Old Norse: , "the one who works with metal fragments; blacksmith", anglicized Brokk) is a dwarf, and the brother of Eitri or Sindri. According to ''Skáldskaparmál'', Loki had Sif's hair, Freyr's ship Skíðblaðnir and Odin's spear Gungnir fashioned by the Sons of Ivaldi. Loki boasted greatly of all the things that the Sons of Ivaldi could create. He also boasted that the other dwarves could not create anything beautiful or useful. Brokkr, who was in Asgard at the time, declared that his brother Eitri could make things far more beautiful and useful than the Sons of Ivaldi. Brokkr bet his head with that of Loki that his brother Eitri could make things with better craftsmanship than Skíðblaðnir or Gungnir. While Eitri used magic in a forge that was extremely hot, Brokkr worked the bellows so that the fire would not cool down nor get too hot for the magic. While making the boar Gullinbursti, a gadfly, often thought to be Loki himself, came and bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eitri
In the Old Norse religion, Eitri (Old Norse: ; or Sindri) is a dwarf and the brother of Brokkr. According to ''Skáldskaparmál'', when Loki had Sif's hair, Freyr's ship Skidbladnir and Odin's spear Gungnir fashioned by the Sons of Ivaldi, he bet his own head with Brokkr that Eitri would not have been able to make items that matched the craftsmanship of those mentioned above. Eitri began working in his furnace while his brother was working the bellows, but a fly (sometimes thought to be Loki himself) began stinging Brokkr, trying to stop him and spoil the items. Eitri succeeded in making the golden boar Gullinbursti, the golden ring Draupnir In Norse mythology, Draupnir (Old Norse: , "the dripper"Orchard (1997:34).) is a gold ring possessed by the god Odin with the ability to multiply itself: Every ninth night, eight new rings 'drip' from Draupnir, each one of the same size and wei ..., and the hammer Mjöllnir that made his brother win the bet, even if its handle wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Lindow
John Frederick Lindow (born July 23, 1946) is an American philologist who is Professor Emeritus of Old Norse and Folklore at University of California, Berkeley. He is a well known authority on Old Norse religion and literature. Biography John Lindow was born in Washington, D.C., on July 23, 1946, the son of Wesley Lindow and Eleanor Niemetta. His father was a banker and his mother was a teacher. John Lindow received his undergraduate degree at Harvard University, where he gained an A.B., ''magna cum laude'', in 1968, and a PhD in 1972, both in Germanic Languages and Literatures. After gaining his Ph.D, Lindow joined the faculty at University of California, Berkeley, serving as Acting Assistant Professor (1972–1974), Assistant Professor (1974–1977), Associate Professor (1977–1983), and Professor of Scandinavian (1983-?). He was since retired as Professor Emeritus of Old Norse and Folklore. In 1977, Lindow was elected as a corresponding member of the Royal Gustavus Ado ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
