Beli (

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 ...

: ) is a

jötunn A (also jotun; plural ; in the normalised scholarly spelling of Old Norse, ; or, in Old English, , plural ) is a type of being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, are often contrasted with gods (the Æsir and Vanir) and with other no ...

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 ...

. He is said in eddic poetry to have been killed by the god

Freyr Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested Æsir, god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, prosperity, fair weather, and good harvest. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was ...

. Saturn's moon Beli is named after him.

Name

The Old Norse name has been translated as 'roarer'. It is related to the Old Norse weak verb ('to roar'; Icelandic ,

Old Swedish Old Swedish ( Modern Swedish: ) is the name for two distinct stages of the Swedish language that were spoken in the Middle Ages: Early Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1225 until about 1375, and Late Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1375 unti ...

'to roar').

Attestations

Eddas

In ''

Gylfaginning ''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first main part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'', after the initial Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' takes the form of ...

'' (The Beguiling of

Gylfi In Norse mythology, Gylfi (Old Norse: ), ''Gylfe'', ''Gylvi'', or ''Gylve'' was the earliest recorded king of Sviþjoð, Sweden, in Scandinavia. He is known by the name Gangleri when appearing in disguise. The Danish tradition on Gylfi tells how ...

), the god

is forced to fight weaponless against the giant Beli, since he has given his sword to his servant Skírnir before sending him to court Gerðr for his master. Freyr eventually manages to kill the giant with the

antler Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) Family (biology), family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally fo ...

of a

hart Hart often refers to: * Hart (deer) * Hart (surname) Hart may also refer to: Organizations * Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer * Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer * Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department store ...

(

stag A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) a ...

). In ''

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 ...

'' (Prophecy of the

Völva In Germanic paganism, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future events and perform sorcery. They are also referred to with many other names meaning "prophetess", "staff bearer" and "sorceress", and they are frequently calle ...

), Freyr is portrayed as "Beli's slayer" (''bani Belja'', 53).

Skaldic poetry

In ''

Háleygjatal Háleygjatal is a skaldic poem by Eyvindr Skáldaspillir written towards the end of the 10th century to establish the Hlaðir dynasty as the social equals of the Hárfagri dynasty The poem is only partially preserved in disjoint parts quoted in ...

'', written by 10th-century

skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...

Eyvindr skáldaspillir, Freyr is called "Beli's enemy" (''Belja dólgr''), and

Þjóðólfr of Hvinir Þjóðólfr ór Hvini (; anglicized as Thjódólf of Hvinir or Thiodolf; fl. late 9th–early 10th c. AD), was a Norwegian skald, said to have been one of the court-poets of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair. His name suggests that he was fro ...

uses the

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech, a figuratively-phrased compound term that is used in place of a simple single-word noun. For instance, the Old English kenning () means , as does (). A kenning has two parts: a base-word (a ...

"evil troop of Beli" (''bölverðung Belja'') in his ''

Haustlöng ''Haustlǫng'' (Old Norse: 'Autumn-long'; anglicized as ''Haustlöng'') is a skaldic poem composed around the beginning of the 10th century by the Norwegian skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir. The poem has been preserved in the 13th-century '' Prose ...

''.

Theories

According to scholar

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 Lin ...

, the killing of Beli is part of an older myth that has been lost and "can be glimpsed only in passing". Elsewhere in ''

Skírnismál ''Skírnismál'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Skírnir', but in the Codex Regius known as ''Fǫr Skírnis'' ‘Skírnir’s journey’) is one of the poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in the 13th-century manuscripts Codex Regius and AM ...

'' (The Lay of

Skírnir In Norse mythology, Skírnir (Old Norse" ; "bright one") is the god Freyr's messenger and vassal. He appears in both the Poetic and Prose Eddas. Attestations ''Poetic Edda'' In the Eddic poem '' Skírnismál'', Skírnir is sent as a mes ...

Gerðr In Norse mythology, Gerðr (Old Norse: ; "fenced-in"Orchard (1997:54).) is a jötunn, Æsir, 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 ''P ...

complains of the slaying of her brother by Frey, which some scholars have interpreted as evidence that she was the sister of Beli. According to

Orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

, "it is clear that Gerd’s reluctance to accept Frey’s favours is based in no small part on her grief for her unnamed brother, whom Frey might have killed. It is therefore possible that Beli is the brother of Gerd, although Frey’s traditional weaponlessness, most tellingly at Ragnarok against Surt, renders the identification uncertain."

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beli (Jotunn) Freyr Jötnar