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''Skírnismál'' (
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 ...
: 'The Lay of Skírnir', but in the Codex Regius known as ''Fǫr Skírnis'' ‘Skírnir’s journey’) is one of the poems 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 ...
''. It is preserved in the 13th-century manuscripts Codex Regius and AM 748 I 4to but may have been originally composed in the early 10th century. Many scholars believe that the poem was acted out, perhaps in a sort of '' hiéros gamos''.


Synopsis

The prose prologue to the poem says that the god Freyr, the son of Njörðr, sits in
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 ...
's throne, Hliðskjálf and looked over all the worlds. On looking to
Jötunheimr The terms Jötunheimr (in Old Norse orthography: Jǫtunheimr ; often Old Norse orthography#Anglicized spelling, anglicised as Jotunheim) or Jötunheimar refer to either a land or multiple lands respectively in Nordic mythology inhabited by the j ...
, the land of the giants, Freyr sees a beautiful girl, Gerðr, and is immediately seized by desire. Fearing that the object of his heart's desire is unattainable, gloom settles upon him. The poem itself starts with the wife of Njörðr, Skaði, bidding Skírnir to ask Freyr why he is so sad. Freyr's response is sullen, yet he does confess his feelings and asks Skírnir to undertake a journey to woo Gerðr on Freyr's behalf. Skírnir agrees, and Freyr furnishes him with his magical steed and sword. Skírnir makes his way to Jötunheimr, and eventually arrives at the hall of the giant Gymir. Gerðr, the daughter of Gymir, greets him; Skírnir immediately sets about trying to set up a sexual rendezvous between Gerðr and Freyr. He tries bribing her first with gifts, but when these are refused, he is quick to turn to coercion, with threats of violence and curses. Gerðr has no choice but to submit to Skírnir's wishes and agree to the rendezvous with Freyr. :Seest thou, maiden, this keen, bright sword :That I hold here in my hand? :Before its blade the old giant bends,— :Thy father is doomed to die. :... :I strike thee, maid, with my gambantein, :To tame thee to work my will; :There shalt thou go where never again :The sons of men shall see thee. In Snorri Sturluson's version of the tale, Skírnir successfully woos Gerðr without threatening to curse her. Skírnir returns to Asgard and reports to Freyr, who asks him: Tell me, Skírnir, before unsaddling :Or stepping forth another pace :Is the news you bring from Jotunheim :For better or for worse? ''Skírnir replies:'' :In the woods of Barri, which know we both so well, :A quiet still and tranquil place :In nine nights time to Njörd's son :Will Gerd give herself. ''Freyr responds:'' :One night is long enough, yet longer still are two; :How then shall I contend with three? :For months have passed more quickly :Than half a bridal eve.


Curses

There is material evidence tha
the contemporary audience of ''Skírnismál'' believed in the effectiveness of curses like Skírnir's and even attempted to employ them.
Aslak Liestøl published a thirteenth-century text which contains a curse that is notably similar to the curse Skírnir's threatened Gerðr with. Liestøl asserts that the runic inscription is a genuine spell, and was intended to work on a real woman. Carolyne Larrington outlines the different elements of the curse Gerðr is threatened with: # She will be invisible, but also a public spectacle. # She will experience intolerable sexual frustration. # She will have
"physically repulsive"
husband. # She will fall to a low social status, and will lose the little autonomy she has. # She will experience " le, authoritarian disapproval".


Cultural references

Skírnir's curse has partial parallels in a number of
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 ...
texts, including the curse known as ''Buslubæn'' in '' Bósa saga'' and the Bergen rune-charm. The Misty Mountains of
J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
's '' The Hobbit'' are likely to have been inspired by the ''úrig fiöll'' in the ''Skírnismál''. Tolkien was familiar with the ''Poetic Edda''.Tom Shippey (2003), '' The Road to Middle-earth'', Houghton Mifflin, ch. 3 p. 70–71, .


References

*


External links


MyNDIR (My Norse Digital Image Repository)
Illustrations of Skírnismál from manuscripts and early print books.


Translations


Skírnismál
English translation by
Benjamin Thorpe Benjamin Thorpe (1782 – 19 July 1870) was an English scholar of Old English language, Anglo-Saxon literature. Biography In the early 1820s he worked as a banker in the House of Rothschild, in Paris. There he met Thomas Hodgkin, who treated hi ...
at We Vikings.
Skirnismol
Henry A. Bellows' translation and commentary

Bellows' translation with clickable names *''The Poetic Edda.'' 1996. Translated by Carolyne Larrington, Oxford University Press, 2014.
Birkett, Tom. ''The Norse Myths. Quercus'', 2018.
*Gaiman, Neil. ''Norse Mythology''. ''Bloomsbury Publishing'', 2018.


Editions



The prose Edda. s Bugge's edition
Skírnismál
Guðni Jónsson's edition


Scholarship

* Cole, Richard (2021).
The threat of induced desire in Skírnismál. In The threat of induced desire in Skírnismál
" Myth, magic, and memory in early Scandinavian narrative culture: studies in honour of Stephen A. Mitchell. Edited by Jürg Glauser and Pernille Hermann, in collaboration with Stefan Brink and Joseph Harris (with the editorial assistance of Sarah Künzler). 91–109. Turnhout.
Heinrichs, Anne. "Der liebeskranke Freyr, euhemeristisch entmythisiert", ''Alvíssmál'' 7 (1997): 3–36 (see English summary, p. 36).

Klingenberg, Heinz (1996). "''För Skírnis'': Brautwerbungsfahrt eines Werbungshelfers", ''Alvíssmál'' 6: 21–62 (see English summary, pp. 59–62).
* Larrington, Carolyne. "What Does Woman Want? Mær und munr in ''Skírnismál". Alvíssmál'', vol. 1, 1992, pp. 3-16.
Liberman, Anatoly. Review of Klaus von See et al., ''"Skírnismál": Modell eines Edda-Kommentars''
''Alvíssmál'' 6 (1996): 114–18. * McGregor, Rick. (1995)

''Deep South'' 1.3 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skirnismal Eddic poetry Freyr