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 as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...
, Ífingr (sometimes anglicised as "Ifing") is a river that separates
Asgard
In Nordic mythology, Asgard (Old Norse: ''Ásgarðr''; "Garden of the Æsir") is a location associated with the gods. It appears in several Old Norse sagas and mythological texts, including the Eddas, however it has also been suggested to be refe ...
, the realm of the
Æsir
Æsir (Old Norse; singular: ) or ēse (Old English; singular: ) are deities, gods in Germanic paganism. In Old Nordic religion and Nordic mythology, mythology, the precise meaning of the term "" is debated, as it can refer either to the gods i ...
, from
Jötunheim, the land of
jötnar, according to stanza 16 of the poem ''
Vafthrudnismal'' from the ''
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 ...
'':
:"Ifing the river is called, which divides the earth
:between the sons of giants and the gods;
:freely it will flow through all time,
:ice never forms on the river."
:
::— Larrington trans.
John Lindow in ''Norse Mythology'' (2001) states in reference to Ifing that a river on which ice will never form is one that runs swiftly and therefore is extremely difficult to ford (thus forming an effective barrier between the worlds of gods and jötnar).
See also
*
Elbląg
Elbląg (; ; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County.
Elbląg is one of the ol ...
, a river sometimes known as Ilfing
References
*Larrington, Carolyne (transl.) (1996). ''The Poetic Edda''.
Oxford World's Classics
Oxford World's Classics is an imprint of Oxford University Press. First established in 1901 by Grant Richards and purchased by OUP in 1906, this imprint publishes primarily dramatic and classic literature for students and the general public. ...
. .
*Lindow, John (2001). ''Norse Mythology''.
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ifingr
Rivers in Norse mythology
Mythological rivers