Gunnlǫð (

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 ...

: ; also Gunnlöd) 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 ...

. She is the daughter of Suttungr, for whom she guards the

mead of poetry In Norse mythology, the Poetic Mead or Mead of Poetry, also known as Mead of Suttungr, is a mythical beverage that whoever "drinks becomes a skald or scholar" able to recite any information and solve any question. This myth was reported by Snorri ...

. Saturn's moon Gunnlod is named after her.

Name

The

name has been translated as 'war-invitation', or 'battle-invitation'. It stems from Old Norse ('battle').

Attestations

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'Poetic Diction' or 'The Language of Poetry'; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda'', compiled by Snorri Sturluson. It consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bra ...

'' (The Language of Poetry) mentions that the

Suttungr has entrusted his daughter Gunnlöð to the guard of the

: But

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

, in the form of a snake, manages to gain access to the chamber within the Hnitbjörg mountain where the mead is kept. The god seduces the guardian Gunnlöð, and sleeps with her three nights. In return, Gunnlöð allows Odin to obtain three drinks of the mead, after which he immediately flies himself out of the cavern as an eagle. In ''

Hávamál ''Hávamál'' ( ; Old Norse: ''Hávamál'',Unnormalised spelling in the Codex Regius:''Title'': hava mal''Final stanza'': Nv ero Hava mál q''ve''ðin Háva hꜹ''l''lo i ..classical pron. , Modern Icelandic pron. , ‘Words of Hávi [the H ...

'' (Sayings of the High One), the account given by Odin differs in a number of details, and the narrative pays most attention to Gunnlöð herself.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunnlod Gýgjar