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 ...
, Vingólf is one of the buildings of the gods. It is described as the hall or ''
hörgr
A (Old Norse, ) or (Old English, ) is a type of altar or cult site, possibly consisting of a heap of stones, used in Norse religion, as opposed to a roofed hall used as a ''hof'' (temple).
The Old Norse term is attested in both the ''Poetic Ed ...
'' of the goddesses and also as a place where righteous men and
those slain in battle go after death. It is mentioned in 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 ...
'', ''Gylfaginning'' 3 and in the enigmatic poem ''
Hrafnagaldur Óðins''.
The Prose Edda
Vingólf is mentioned three times in the ''
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 ...
'' section of
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 ...
's ''
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 ...
''.
The three mentions of Vingólf seem somewhat contradictory. In the first instance it appears as an alternative name for
Gimlé
In Norse mythology, Gimlé (alternately Gimli as in Icelandic) is a place where the worthy survivors of Ragnarök are foretold to live. It is mentioned in the ''Prose Edda'' and the Eddic poem "Völuspá" and described as the most beautiful plac ...
, a paradise where righteous people go after death. In the second instance it is the hall or
hörgr
A (Old Norse, ) or (Old English, ) is a type of altar or cult site, possibly consisting of a heap of stones, used in Norse religion, as opposed to a roofed hall used as a ''hof'' (temple).
The Old Norse term is attested in both the ''Poetic Ed ...
of the goddesses. In the third instance it is a residence for
those slain in battle.
The name does not occur in
Eddaic or
skaldic poetry
A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...
.
Hrafnagaldur Óðins
The enigmatic ''
Hrafnagaldur Óðins'', a young mythological poem composed in the Eddic style, mentions Vingólf in one of its strophes.
The context is enigmatic but Vingólf seems to be a place where the Æsir have gathered for an ale feasts. The significance of this mention hinges on the interpretation of ''Hrafnagaldur Óðins'' as a whole.
Vingólf's name
The name ''Vingólf'' is usually thought to be composed of ''vinr'' (friend) and ''gólf'' (floor, hall) and mean something like "pleasant hall". Alternatively the name could be read Víngólf and the meaning would be "wine hall".
''
Uppsalabók'', one of the four main manuscripts of the ''Prose Edda'', has the variant reading Vindglóð seemingly meaning "wind ember" but most variant readings which occur only in that manuscript are thought to be corrupted.
References
* Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989). ''Íslensk orðsifjabók''. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
* Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (transl.) (1916). ''The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson''. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation
Available online* Eysteinn Björnsson (ed.). ''Snorra-Edda: Formáli & Gylfaginning : Textar fjögurra meginhandrita''. 2005. http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/gg/
* Eysteinn Björnsson (ed. & tr.) (2002). ''Hrafnagaldur Óðins : Forspjallsljóð''. http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/hrg/hrg.html
*
Jónsson, Finnur (1931). ''Lexicon Poeticum''. København: S. L. Møllers Bogtrykkeri.
* Simek, Rudolf. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. 1993. Trans. Angela Hall. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. . New edition 2000, .
*
Thorpe, Benjamin (tr.) (1866). ''Edda Sæmundar Hinns Froða : The Edda Of Sæmund The Learned''. (2 vols.) London: Trübner & Co
Available online
Further reading
In the entry for Vingólf in the ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology'', Rudolf Simek lists the following articles.
* W. Braune (1889). "Vingólf". ''
Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur
The ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur'' (English: ''Contributions to the History of the German Language and Literature'') is a German academic journal publishing articles on German language and literature. The particula ...
14''.
* F. Jónsson (1890). "Vingólf". ''Arkiv för nordisk Filologi 6''.
* F. Kauffmann (1892). "Vingólf". ''Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum 36''.
External links
Artist's conception of Vingólf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vingolf
Places in Norse mythology
Conceptions of heaven