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 ...
, Líf (identical with the
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 ...
noun meaning "life, the life of the body")
[Cleasby & Vigfusson s.v. ''líf''.] and Lífþrasir (Old Norse masculine name from ''líf'' and ''þrasir'' and defined by ''Lexicon Poëticum'' as ''"Livæ amator, vitæ amans, vitæ cupidus"'' "Líf's lover, lover of life, zest for life"),
[Egilsson s.v. ''Lífþrasir''.] sometimes anglicized as Lif and Lifthrasir, female and male respectively, are two humans who are foretold to survive the events of
Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, (also Ragnarok; or ; ) is a foretold series of impending events, including a great battle in which numerous great Norse mythological figures will perish (including the Æsir, gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdall, a ...
by hiding in a wood called
Hoddmímis holt and, after the flames have abated, to repopulate the newly risen and fertile world. Líf and Lífþrasir are mentioned in 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 ...
'', which was compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''
Prose Edda
The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' () or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often considered to have been to some exten ...
'', written in the 13th century 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 ...
. Many scholars have speculated as to the underlying meaning and origins of both names.
Attestations
In the poem ''
Vafþrúðnismál'', collected in the ''Poetic Edda'', 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 ...
poses a question to the
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 ...
Vafþrúðnir, asking who among mankind will survive when
Fimbulvetr, the winter at the end of the world, occurs. Vafþrúðnir responds that they will be Líf and Lífþrasir, that the two will have hidden in the wood of Hoddmímis Holt, they will consume the morning dew as food, and "from them generations will spring".
[Larrington (1999:47).]
In chapter 53 of the ''Prose Edda'' book ''
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 ...
'',
High tells
Gangleri (king
Gylfi in disguise) that two people, Líf and Lífþrasir, will lie hid in Hoddmímis Holt during "
Surt's fire", and that "from these people there will be descended such a great progeny that the world will be inhabited." The above-mentioned stanza of ''Vafþrúðnismál'' is then quoted.
[Faulkes (1995:57).]
Reception
Carolyne Larrington notes that it is nowhere expressly stated what will happen to the world tree
Yggdrasil at Ragnarök, points to a connection between
Mímir and Yggdrasil in the poem ''
Völuspá
''Völuspá'' (also ''Vǫluspá'', ''Vǫlospá'', or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress') is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It dates back to the tenth century and tells the story from Norse Mythology of ...
'', and theorizes that "it is possible that Hoddmimir is another name for Mimir, and that the two survivors hide in Yggdrasill."
[Larrington (1999:269).]
Rudolf Simek
Rudolf Simek (born 21 February 1954) is an Austrian philologist and religious studies scholar who is Professor and Chair of Ancient German and Nordic Studies at the University of Bonn. Simek specializes in Germanic studies, and is the author ...
theorizes that the survival of Líf and Lífþrasir is "a case of reduplication of the anthropogeny, understandable from the cyclic nature of the Eddic
eschatology
Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of Contemporary era, present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic and non-Abrah ...
." Simek says that Hoddmímis holt "should not be understood literally as a wood or even a forest in which the two keep themselves hidden, but rather as an alternative name for the world-tree
Yggdrasil. Thus, the creation of mankind from tree trunks (Askr, Embla) is repeated after the Ragnarǫk as well." Simek says that in
Germanic regions, the concept of mankind originating from trees is ancient. Simek additionally points out legendary parallels in a
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
n legend of a
shepherd
A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...
who lives inside a tree, whose descendants repopulate the land after life there has been wiped out by plague (citing a retelling by F. R. Schröder). In addition, Simek points to an Old Norse parallel in the figure of
Örvar-Oddr, "who is rejuvenated after living as a tree-man (''Ǫrvar-Odds saga'' 24–27)".
[Simek (2007:189). For Schröder, see Schröder (1931).]
See also
*
Ask and Embla
In Norse mythology, Ask and Embla ()—man and woman respectively—were the first two humans, created by the gods. The pair are attested in both the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Pros ...
, the first two humans in Norse mythology
Notes
References
* Cleasby, Richard and Guðbrandr Vigfusson
''An Icelandic-English Dictionary'' 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon. 1957.
* Egilsson, Sveinbjörn
''Lexicon Poëticum Antiquæ Linguæ Septentrionalis'' Copenhagen: J.D. Qvist & Co. 1860.
* Larrington, Carolyne (Trans.) (1999). ''The Poetic Edda''.
Oxford World's Classics.
* Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). ''Edda''.
Everyman.
* Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''.
Cassell.
*
Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''.
D.S. Brewer.
* Schröder, F. R. (1931). "Germanische Schöpfungsmythen" in ''Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift'' 19, pp. 1–26.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lif and Lifthrasir
Mythological lovers
Eschatology in Norse mythology
Legendary progenitors
People in Norse mythology