Aurboða (also Aurboda;

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is 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 t ...

: "gravel-bidder" or "gravel-offerer") is a

jötunn A (also jotun; in the normalised scholarly spelling of Old Norse, ; ; plural / ) or, in Old English, (plural ) is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, they are often contrasted with gods (Æsir and Vanir ...

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, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern peri ...

. She is married to the jötunn Gymir and is the mother of

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 E ...

Name

The origin of the name is unclear. The second part is certainly related to the

verb ('to offer'), but the meaning of the first element has been debated. Most scholars connect it to the Old Norse ('gravel, wet sand or earth, mud'), and translate as 'gravel-bidder' or 'gravel-offerer'. This interpretation is encouraged by Aurboða's relationship with Gymir and

, who have also been regarded as

chthonic The word chthonic (), or chthonian, is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''χθών, "khthon"'', meaning earth or soil. It translates more directly from χθόνιος or "in, under, or beneath the earth" which can be differentiated from Γῆ ...

beings in scholarship. An alternative theory is to translate as 'gold-bidder' by comparing the first element to a word (from Latin ), as suggested by the depiction of Aurboða as a girl rather than a jötunn in ''Fjölsvinnsmál''. According to philologist

Rudolf Simek Rudolf Simek (born 21 February 1954) is an Austrian philologist and religious studies scholar who is Professor and Chair of Ancient German and Nordic Studies at the University of Bonn. Simek specializes in Germanic studies, and is the author o ...

, however, the testimony of ''Fjölsvinnsmäl'' is probably secondary, and the root is also found in the names of other jötnar and dwarfs such as

Aurgelmir In Norse mythology, Ymir (, ), also called Aurgelmir, Brimir, or Bláinn, is the ancestor of all jötnar. Ymir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrati ...

and Aurvangr. In ''

Fjölsvinnsmál ''Fjölsvinnsmál'' ( Old Norse: 'The Lay of Fjölsvinn') is the second of two Old Norse poems commonly published under the title ''Svipdagsmál'' "The Lay of Svipdagr". These poems are found together in several 17th-century paper manuscripts with ...

'' (The Lay of Fjölsvinn), another figure named is mentioned as one of the nine maidens sitting at the knees of their mistress the jötunn Menglöd. The name is sometimes anglicized as .

Attestation

In both ''Hyndluljód'' (The Lay of Hyndla) and ''

Gylfaginning ''Gylfaginning'' ( Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; c. 20,000 words; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first part of the 13th century '' Prose Edda'' after the Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' deals wi ...

'' (Beguiling of

Gylfi In Norse mythology, Gylfi (Old Norse: ), ''Gylfe'', ''Gylvi'', or ''Gylve'' was the earliest recorded king in Scandinavia. He often uses the name Gangleri when appearing in disguise. The traditions on Gylfi deal with how he was tricked by the go ...

), Aurboða is portrayed as the mother of the

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aurboda Gýgjar

Name

Attestation

See also

Notes

References