In
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 ...
, Kára is a
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 ...
, attested in the prose epilogue of the ''
Poetic Edda
The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...
'' poem ''
Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''.
The epilogue details that "there was a belief in the
pagan religion, which we now reckon an old wives' tale, that people could be
reincarnated," and that the deceased valkyrie
Sigrún and her dead love
Helgi Hundingsbane
Helgi Hundingsbane is a hero in Norse sagas. Helgi appears in '' Volsunga saga'' and in two lays in the ''Poetic Edda'' named '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''. The ''Poetic Edda'' relates that Helgi and his mist ...
were considered to have been reborn as another Helgi and valkyrie couple; Helgi as
Helgi Haddingjaskati and Sigrún as the daughter of
Halfdan—the valkyrie Kára. According to the epilogue, further information about the two can be found in the work ''
Káruljóð'', which has not survived.
[Larrington (1999:141).]
The name ''Kára'' either means "the wild, stormy one" (based on Old Norse ''afkárr'', meaning "wild") or "curl" or "the curly one" (from Old Norse ''kárr'').
Otto Höfler theorizes a connection between the "curl" etymology and the
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 ...
ic cult name ''
Odinkar'' that appears in
runic inscriptions
A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of E ...
, which means "the one with the (long?) Odin's curls."
[Simek (2007:182) citing Höfler (1952).]
Notes
References
* Höfler, Otto (1952). ''Germanisches Sakralkönigtum''. Tübingen, Münster, Köln.
* Larrington, Carolyne (Trans.) (1999). ''The Poetic Edda''.
Oxford World's Classics.
* Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''.
D.S. Brewer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kara
Valkyries