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 period ...

, Hati Hróðvitnisson (

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 ...

: , first name meaning "He Who Hates", or "Enemy"Byock, Jesse. (Trans.) ''The Prose Edda'', page 164. (2006)

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Western ...

) is a

warg In the philologist and fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fiction, a warg is a particularly large and evil kind of wolf that could be ridden by orcs. He derived the name and characteristics of his wargs by combining meanings and myth ...

; a wolf that, according to

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 the ...

's ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been t ...

'', chases

Máni Máni (Old Norse: ; "Moon"Orchard (1997:109).) is the Moon personified in Germanic mythology. Máni, personified, is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written ...

, the Moon, across the night sky, just as the wolf

Sköll In Norse mythology, Sköll (Old Norse: ''Skǫll'', "Treachery"Orchard (1997:150). or "Mockery"Simek (2007:292)) is a wolf that, according to Snorri Sturluson's ''Prose Edda'', chases the Sun (personified as a goddess, Sól). Hati Hróðvitn ...

chases Sól, the Sun, during the day, until the time of

Ragnarök In Norse mythology, (; non, Ragnarǫk) is a series of events, including a great battle, foretelling the death of numerous great figures (including the gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr, and Loki), natural disasters, and the submers ...

, when they will swallow these heavenly bodies. Snorri also gives another name for a wolf who swallows the Moon, Mánagarmr (, "Moon-Hound", or "Moon's Dog"). Hati's

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

''Hróðvitnisson'', attested in both the

Eddic poem The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...

Grímnismál ''Grímnismál'' (Old Norse: ; 'The Lay of Grímnir') is one of the mythological poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript and the AM 748 I 4to fragment. It is spoken through the voice of ''Grímnir'', one of ...

" and the ''

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 with th ...

'' section of the ''Prose Edda'', indicates that he is the son of

Fenrir Fenrir (Old Norse: ; "fen-dweller")Orchard (1997:42). or Fenrisúlfr (O.N.: ; "Fenrir's wolf", often translated "Fenris-wolf"),Simek (2007:81). also referred to as Hróðvitnir (O.N.: ; "fame-wolf")Simek (2007:160). and Vánagandr (O.N.: ; " ...

, for whom Hróðvitnir ("Famous Wolf") is an alternate name. According to Snorri, Hati's mother is the giantess, not named but mentioned in the Eddic poem "

Völuspá ''Vǫluspá'' (also ''Völuspá'', ''Vǫlospá'' or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse: ) is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It tells the story of the creation of the world and ...

", who dwells to the east of

Midgard In Germanic cosmology, Midgard (an anglicised form of Old Norse ; Old English , Old Saxon , Old High German , and Gothic ''Midjun-gards''; "middle yard", "middle enclosure") is the name for Earth (equivalent in meaning to the Greek term , "inhab ...

in the forest of

Járnviðr In Norse mythology, Járnviðr (Old Norse "Iron-wood"Lindow (2001:204-205).) is a forest located east of Midgard, inhabited by trollwomen who bore '' jötnar'' and giant wolves. Járnviðr is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th ce ...

("Ironwood") and "fosters Fenrir's kin". Snorri states that this giantess and witch bears many giants for sons, all in the form of wolves, including Hati and Sköll, who is thus implied to be Hati's brother. In two verses of "Völuspá" that Snorri cites, an unnamed son of this giantess is prophesied to snatch the Moon,''tungls tjúgari'', translated by Anthony Faulkes, Snorri Sturluson, ''Edda'',

Everyman Library Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent (itself later a division of Weidenfeld & Ni ...

, London: Dent, 1987, repr. 1998, , p. 15, "sun's snatcher". However the word ''tungl'', "heavenly body", had come to refer specifically to the Moon, and the poem goes on to speak of the Sun;

Ursula Dronke __NOTOC__ Ursula Miriam Dronke (née Brown, 3 November 1920 – 8 March 2012Heather O'Donoghue"Ursula Dronke obituary: Inspirational teacher of Old Norse literature specialising in the sagas and poetry of medieval Iceland" ''The Guardian'' 25 M ...

, ''The Poetic Edda'' Volume 2 ''Mythological Poems'', Oxford: Clarendon Press - Oxford University, 1997, repr. 2001, , note to "Völuspá" 39/7–8, pp. 142–43. and also eat the flesh of the dead, spattering the heavens with blood. In contrast the Eddic poem "

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 Vafþr ...

" states that Fenrir himself will destroy the sun.Dronke, note.

Mánagarmr

Snorri also names a wolf named Mánagarmr ("Moon-Hound", or "Moon's Dog") as the most powerful of the giantess's progeny, and goes on to say that he will swallow the Moon and gorge on the dead. This is presumably an alternate name for Hati or

that Snorri took from folklore. It can be

anglicized Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

as ''Managarm'', ''Manegarm'', ''Mánagarm'' or ''Managarmr''.

References

Wolves in Norse mythology {{Norse-myth-stub

Mánagarmr

See also

References