Hræsvelgr (

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 portrayed as the

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

-shaped originator of the wind.

Name

The

name ''Hræsvelgr'' has been translated as 'corpse-swallower', or as 'shipwreck-current'. Hræsvelgr's name is sometimes

anglicised Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

as ''Hraesvelgr'', ''Hresvelgr'', ''Hraesveglur'', or ''Hraesvelg''. The common Danish form is ''Hræsvælg'' and the common Swedish form is ''Räsvelg''.

Attestation

In ''

Vafþrúðnismál ''Vafþrúðnismál'' (Old Norse: "The Lay of Vafþrúðnir") is the third poem in the ''Poetic Edda''. It is a conversation in verse form conducted initially between the Æsir Odin and Frigg, and subsequently between Odin and the jötunn Vafþrú ...

'' (The Lay of

Vafþrúðnir Vafþrúðnir (Old Norse "mighty weaver"Orchard (1997:170).) is a wise jötunn in Norse mythology. His name comes from ''Vaf'', which means weave or entangle, and ''thrudnir'', which means strong or mighty. Some interpret it to mean "mighty in rid ...

), Odin questions the wise

Vafþrúðnir about the origin of the wind, and the jötunn answers: This stanza is paraphrased by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

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 ...

), when Hárr answers the same question, that time asked by Gangleri (

in disguise). Snorri adds that Hræsvelgr sits at the north end of heaven, and that winds originate from under his gigantic eagle’s wings when he spreads them for flight.

References

Bibliography

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Name

Attestation

References

Bibliography

Further reading