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Sigrdrífumál
(also known as ) is the conventional title given to a section of the ''Poetic Edda'' text in . It follows without interruption, and it relates the meeting of Sigurðr with the valkyrie Brynhildr, here identified as ("driver to victory"). Its content consists mostly of verses concerned with runic magic and general wisdom literature, presented as advice given by Sigrdrífa to Sigurd. The metre is differing throughout the poem. Most staves are wrote in ljóðaháttr, but there are also some in and a few in galdralag. The end is in the lost part of the manuscript but it has been substituted from younger paper manuscripts. The describes the scene and contains some of the poem. Name The compound means "driver to victory" occurs both as a common noun, a synonym of , and as a proper name of the valkyrie named Hild or Brynhild in the Prose Edda. H. Reichert, "Sigrdrifa (Brynhildr)" in: McConnell et al. (eds.), ''The Nibelungen Tradition: An Encyclopedia'', Routledge (2013) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brynhildr
Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( , , or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigothic princess and queen Brunhilda of Austrasia. In the Norse tradition, Brunhild is a shieldmaiden or valkyrie, who appears as a main character in the and some Eddic poems treating the same events. In the continental Germanic tradition, where she is a central character in the , she is a powerful Amazon-like queen. In both traditions, she is instrumental in bringing about the death of the hero Sigurd or Siegfried after he deceives her into marrying the Burgundian king Gunther or Gunnar. In both traditions, the immediate cause for her desire to have Siegfried murdered is a quarrel with the hero's wife, Gudrun or Kriemhild. In the Scandinavian tradition, but not in the continental tradition, Brunhild kills herself after Sigurd's death. Richard Wagner made Brunhild (as ) an important character in his opera cycle . The majority ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ( or ; from ) 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 ('single fighters' or 'once fighters').Orchard (1997:36) and Lindow (2001:104). When the are not preparing for the cataclysmic events of Ragnarök, the valkyries bear them mead. Valkyries also appear as lovers of heroes and other mortals, where they are sometimes described as the daughters of royalty, sometimes accompanied by ravens and sometimes connected to swans or horses. Valkyries are attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' (a book of poems compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources), the ''Prose Edda'', the (both by Snorri Sturluson) and the (one of the Sagas of Icelanders), all written—or compiled—in the 13th century. They appear throughout the poetry of skalds, in a 14th-century magical formula, charm, and in various runic inscriptions. The Old English cognate term appears ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Runic Magic
There is some evidence that, in addition to being a writing system, runes historically served purposes of magic. This is the case from the earliest epigraphic evidence of the Roman to the Germanic Iron Age, with non-linguistic inscriptions and the '' alu'' word. An '' erilaz'' appears to have been a person versed in runes, including their magic applications. In medieval sources, notably the Poetic Edda, the '' Sigrdrífumál'' mentions "victory runes" to be carved on a sword, "some on the grasp and some on the inlay, and name Tyr twice." In the early modern period and modern history, related folklore and superstition is recorded in the form of the Icelandic magical staves. In the early 20th century, Germanic mysticism coined new forms of "runic magic", some of which were continued or developed further by contemporary adherents of Germanic Neopaganism. Modern systems of runic divination are based on Hermeticism, classical occultism, and the ''I Ching''. Historical evidence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sigurðr
Sigurd ( ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir () — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred to with the epithet "Fáfnir's bane" (, , , ), and is also widely known as "the Dragon Slayer". In both the Norse and continental Germanic traditions, Sigurd is portrayed as dying as the result of a quarrel between his wife (Gudrun/Kriemhild) and another woman, Brunhild, whom he has tricked into marrying the Burgundian king Gunnar/Gunther. His slaying of a dragon and possession of the hoard of the Nibelungen is also common to both traditions. In other respects, however, the two traditions appear to diverge. The most important works to feature Sigurd are the , the ''Völsunga saga'', and the ''Poetic Edda''. He also appears in numerous other works from both Germany and Scandinavia, including a series of medieval and early modern Scandinavi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Memory-draught
Symbel ( OE) and sumbl ( ON) are Germanic terms for "feast, banquet". Accounts of the ''symbel'' are preserved in the Anglo-Saxon ''Beowulf'' (lines 489–675 and 1491–1500), ''Dream of the Rood'' (line 141) and ''Judith'' (line 15), Old Saxon ''Heliand'' (line 3339), and the Old Norse ''Lokasenna'' (stanza 8) as well as other Eddic and Saga texts, such as in the ''Heimskringla'' account of the funeral ale held by King Sweyn, or in the ''Fagrskinna''. Paul C. Bauschatz in 1976 suggested that the term reflects a pagan ritual which had a "great religious significance in the culture of the early Germanic people".First proposed at the Third International Conference of Nordic and General Linguistics, at the University of Texas at Austin, April 5–9, 1976 (published in 1978), elaborated in Bauschatz, "The Germanic ritual feast" and ''The Well and the Tree''; Pollington, ''Mead-hall''. Etymology The prevalent view today is that Old English , Old Saxon , ' (Old High German ) and Ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Great Lacuna
The Great Lacuna is a lacuna of eight leaves where there was heroic Old Norse poetry in the ''Codex Regius''. The gap would have contained the last part of ''Sigrdrífumál'' and most of ''Sigurðarkviða''. What remains of the last poem consists of 22 stanzas called ''Brot af Sigurðarkviðu'', but according to Henry Adams Bellows, the original size of ''Sigurðarkviða'' should have been more than 250 stanzas. The missing original narrative is preserved in the ''Völsunga saga'' in prose form with four stanzas of poetry. The first two stanzas that are preserved through the saga deal with how Sigurd returns to Brynhildr leaping through the flames on Grani after Gunnar had failed: Sigurd had, however, been given a potion of forgetfulness and so he had forgotten all about Brynhildr before returning to her. Moreover, he arrived to her disguised as Gunnar, and so Brynhildr was married to Gunnar instead. After the wedding, Brynhildr argues with her sister-in-law Gudrun, who is Sig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poetic Edda
The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse poetry. Several versions of the ''Poetic Edda'' exist; especially notable is the medieval Icelandic manuscript '' Codex Regius'', which contains 31 poems. Composition The ''Eddic poems'' are composed in alliterative verse. Most are in ''fornyrðislag'' ("old story metre"), while '' málaháttr'' ("speech form") is a common variation. The rest, about a quarter, are composed in '' ljóðaháttr'' ("song form"). The language of the poems is usually clear and relatively unadorned. Kennings are often employed, though they do not arise as frequently, nor are they as complex, as those found in typical skaldic poetry. Authorship Like most early poetry, the Eddic poems were minstrel poems, passed orally from singer to singer and from poet to po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Codex Regius
Codex Regius (, "Royal Book" or "King's Book"; ) or GKS 2365 4º is an Icelandic codex in which many Old Norse poems from the ''Poetic Edda'' are preserved. Thought to have been written during the 1270s, it is made up of 45 vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. It is often distinguished from parchment, either by being made from calfskin (rather than the skin of other animals), or simply by being of a higher quality. Vellu ... leaves. The work originally contained a further eight leaves, which are now missing. It is the sole source for most of the poems it contains. In scholarly texts, this manuscript is commonly abbreviated as [R] for Codex Regius, or as [K] for Konungsbók. The codex was discovered in 1643, when it came into the possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson, then Bishop of Skálholt in Iceland, who in 1662 sent it as a gift to King Frederick III of Denmark; hence the name. It was then kept in the Royal Library in C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fáfnismál
''Fáfnismál'' (''Fáfnir's sayings'') is an Eddic poem, found in the Codex Regius manuscript. The poem is unnamed in the manuscript, where it follows '' Reginsmál'' and precedes ''Sigrdrífumál'', but modern scholars regard it as a separate poem and have assigned it a name for convenience. The poem forms a more coherent whole than ''Reginsmál''. Most of it is composed in ''ljóðaháttr'', though nine stanzas deviate from the form. The first part of the poem is a dialogue between Sigurd and Fáfnir. The poem moves on to Sigurd's slaying of Fáfnir, dealings with Reginn and claiming of the gold hoard. Synopsis Fafnismal begins with Reginn egging on Sigurd to slay Fáfnir, a golden hoard guarding dragon. Sigurd hides in a pit near Fafnir's lair and springs out of it stabbing Fáfnir in the heart. Fáfnir, mortally wounded, converses with Sigurd in riddle-like conversation. Initially, Sigurd withholds his name because it was a belief that a mortally wounded man had special po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Lacuna
The Great Lacuna is a lacuna of eight leaves where there was heroic Old Norse poetry in the ''Codex Regius''. The gap would have contained the last part of ''Sigrdrífumál'' and most of ''Sigurðarkviða''. What remains of the last poem consists of 22 stanzas called '' Brot af Sigurðarkviðu'', but according to Henry Adams Bellows, the original size of ''Sigurðarkviða'' should have been more than 250 stanzas. The missing original narrative is preserved in the ''Völsunga saga'' in prose form with four stanzas of poetry. The first two stanzas that are preserved through the saga deal with how Sigurd returns to Brynhildr leaping through the flames on Grani after Gunnar had failed: Sigurd had, however, been given a potion of forgetfulness and so he had forgotten all about Brynhildr before returning to her. Moreover, he arrived to her disguised as Gunnar, and so Brynhildr was married to Gunnar instead. After the wedding, Brynhildr argues with her sister-in-law Gudrun, who is S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nótt
In Norse mythology, Night, Old West Norse: (), Old East Norse: (),Orchard (1997:120). is a goddess and personification of the night. In both the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', composed in the 13th century, Nótt is listed as the daughter of a figure by the name of Nörvi (with variant spellings) and is associated with the horse Hrímfaxi, while the ''Prose Edda'' features information about Nótt's ancestry, including her Numbers in Germanic paganism, three marriages. Nótt's third marriage was to the god Dellingr and this resulted in their son Dagr, the personified day (although some manuscript variations list Jörð as Dellingr's wife and Dagr's mother instead). As a Proper noun#Proper nouns and common nouns, proper noun, the word ''nótt'' appears throughout Old Norse literature. Attestations ''Poetic Edda'' In stanza 24 of the poem ''Vafþrúðnismál'', the god Odin (disguised as "List of names of Odin, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
