Hljod or Ljod (

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 ...

: ''Hljóð'' ) 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 spouse of

Völsung Völsung ( , ) is a figure in Germanic mythology, where he is the eponymous ancestor of the Völsung family (, ), which includes the hero Sigurð. In Nordic mythology, he is the son of Rerir and was murdered by the Geatish king Siggeir. He was ...

, the daughter of the jötunn

Hrímnir Hrímnir (Old Norse: ) is a jǫtunn in Norse mythology. He is the father of Hljód. Name The Old Norse name ''Hrímnir'' has been translated as 'frosty', 'the one covered with hoarfrost', or 'the sooty one.' Probably intended to evoke the fro ...

, and the mother of

Sigmund In Germanic mythology, Sigmund ( , ) is a hero whose story is told in the Völsunga saga. He and his sister, Signý, are the children of Völsung and his wife Hljod. Sigmund is best known as the father of Sigurð the dragon-slayer, though Sigu ...

and

Signy Signy or Signe (, sometimes known as ) is the name of two heroines in two connected legends from Norse mythology which were very popular in medieval Scandinavia. Both appear in the Völsunga saga, which was adapted into other works such as Wagne ...

Name

The

name ''Hljóð'' has been translated as 'howling'.

Attestation

In the first chapter of ''

Völsunga saga The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century prose rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the story ...

'', Hljóð is portrayed as the daughter of the jötunn

, and as a 'wish-maiden' of the god

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 ...

, which could be interpreted as '

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 Li ...

of Odin'. Hljóð then assumes the shape of a crow and provides the apple of fertility to the childless Rerir, who eventually begets Hljóð's own husband

References

Bibliography

* * Germanic heroic legends Gýgjar Valkyries {{Norse-myth-stub