Chapters 44-95 - Germanic Mythology

More documents

Recommendations

Info

giant-powers believed to be active therein. Although the <strong>Germanic</strong> gods are in a constant; more or less violent conflict with the powers of frost, still winter, when it observes its limits of time, is not an evil but a good divinity, and the cold liquids of Hvergelmir mixed with those of Urd's and Mimir's fountains are necessary to the world-tree. Still less could night be referred to the domain of demons. Mother Nott never transgresses the borders of her power; she never defies the sacred laws, which are established for the order of the universe. According to the seasons of the year, she divides in an unvarying manner the twenty-four hours between herself and day. Work and rest must alternate with each other. Rich in blessing, night comes with solace to the weary, and seeks if possible to sooth the sufferer with a potion of slumber. Though sombre in appearance (svört og dökk - Gylfaginning 10), still she is the friend of light. She decorates herself with lunar effulgence and with starry splendor, with winning twilight in midsummer, and with the light of snow and of northern aurora in the winter. The following lines in Sigurdrífumál 3-4 sound like a reverberation from the lost liturgic hymns of our heathendom. Heill Dagur, heilir Dags synir, heil Nótt og Nipt! Óreiðum augum lítið okkur þinig og gefið sitjöndum sigur! Heilir æsir, heilar ásynjur, heil sjá in fjölnýta fold! Hail Dag, Hail Dag's sons, Hail Nott and Nipt! Look down upon us With benevolent eyes and give us victory! Hail Aesir, Hail Asynjes, Hail thou bounteous earth! Of the Germans in the first century after Christ, Tacitus writes (Germania 3): "They do not, as we, compute time by days but by nights, night seems to lead the day" (nec dierum numerum, ut nos, sed noctium computant: nox ducere diem videtur). This was applicable to the Scandinavians as far down as a thousand years later. Time was computed by nights not by days, and in the phrases from heathen times, nótt ok dagr, nótt med degi, bæði um nætr ok um daga, night is named before day. Linguistic usage and mythology are here intimately associated with each other. According to Vafþrúðnismál 25 and Gylfaginning 10, Nott bore with Delling the son Dag, with whom she divided the administration of the twenty-four hours. Delling is the elf of the morning redness (see No. 35). The symbolism of nature is here distinct as in all theogonies. Through other divinities, Naglfari and Ónarr (Anarr, Aunarr), Nott is the mother with the former of Unnr (Uðr), also called Auðr, with the latter of the goddess Jord, Odin's wife. Unnr means water, Auðr means rich. It has above been shown that Unnr- Auðr is identical with Njörd, the lord of wealth and commerce, who in the latter capacity became the protectors of navigators, and to whom sacrifices were offered for a prosperous voyage. Gods of all clans -- Aesir, Vanir, and Elves -- are thus akin to Nott, and are descended from her.
85. NARFI, NOTT'S FATHER, IDENTICAL WITH MIMIR. A PSEUDO-NARFI IN THE PROSE EDDA. Nott herself is the daughter of a being whose name has many forms. Naurr, Nörr (dative Naurvi, Nörvi; Nótt var Naurvi borin - Vafþrúðnismál 25; Nótt in Naurvi kennda - Alvíssmál 29). Narfi, Narvi (niðerfi Narfa - Egill Skallagr., 56, 2; Gylfaginning 10). Norvi, Nörvi (Gylfaginning 10; kund Nörva - Hrafnagalður Óðins 7). Njörfi, Njörvi (Gylfaginning 10; Njörva nipt - Sonatorrek). Nori (Gylfaginning 10). Nari (Höfuðlausn 10). Neri (Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, 4). All these variations are derived from the same original appellation, related to the Old Norse verb njörva, the Old English nearwian, meaning "the one that binds," "the one who puts on tight-fitting bonds." 1 Simply the circumstance that Narvi is Nott's father proves that he must have occupied one of the most conspicuous positions in the <strong>Germanic</strong> cosmogony. In all cosmogonies and theogonies Night is one of the oldest beings, older than light, without which it cannot be conceived. Light is kindled in the darkness, thus foreboding an important epoch in the development of the world out of chaos. The being which is Night's 1 According to an Icelandic etymological dictionary, Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon's Íslensk orðsifjabók(1989), these names are indeed related although the original meaning of the name Narvi is unclear and may have originally meant "thin one; hard-pressed one; one who occupies a narrow place" (Old English nearo, English narrow, "close, tight") The oldest known example of the verb njörva meaning "to bind, tie, secure" dates from the 17 th century and thus correctly cannot be considered Old Norse. A lost adjective *njörr, with the meaning of "tie, bind tightly; nail down, sew tightly, stitch" etc, is thought to be the origin of these and related words. There are no certainties here. Simek suggests the name Narvi means "narrow" although he considers a derivation from nár, despite the vowel quantity, as conceivable if Narvi can be associated with the realm of the dead. (DNM, pg. 228).
Page 1 and 2:
Undersökningar i Germanisk Mytolog
Page 3 and 4:
myth, we shall discover an Erik who
Page 5 and 6:
y a sacred order unlawful for the f
Page 7 and 8:
there, the woman brought him to a p
Page 9 and 10:
That these last ideas have been inf
Page 11 and 12:
The river which is mentioned in Eri
Page 13 and 14:
egg and the egg-shell." Also the ro
Page 15 and 16:
conscious cunning. Nevertheless, he
Page 17 and 18:
51 GUDMUND'S IDENTITY WITH MIMIR. T
Page 19 and 20:
egins. They have explained Mimir's
Page 21 and 22:
elapse into the faults of the forme
Page 23 and 24:
and Leifthrasir were still remember
Page 25 and 26:
the ásmegir demands that he must h
Page 27 and 28:
immortality. In the Germanic mythol
Page 29 and 30:
In the Norse sagas of the Middle Ag
Page 31 and 32:
journey around the world. From a my
Page 33 and 34:
There can be no doubt that "the ás
Page 35 and 36:
Hakon's men are designated in the s
Page 37 and 38:
which calls them ásliðar, a word
Page 39 and 40:
youth of fifteen years. The evil cr
Page 41 and 42:
square, to be an abode for men; an
Page 43 and 44:
there comes a great conflagration a
Page 45 and 46:
carried his prey to Nastrond (Völu
Page 47 and 48:
In regard to the position of Yggdra
Page 49 and 50:
giants, Niflhel, Niflheim, extends
Page 51 and 52:
6. Under the third (subterranean) r
Page 53 and 54:
Hades, the middle condition, and th
Page 55 and 56:
2. Reið hann niður þaðan Niflhe
Page 57 and 58:
In Grímnismál, the word Hel occur
Page 59 and 60:
first cross a river and then come t
Page 61 and 62:
creative force, over which the "ove
Page 63 and 64:
oaths to serve the gods. Their chie
Page 65 and 66:
Tamsvendi eg þig drep, en eg þig
Page 67 and 68:
appellation suggests, and receive t
Page 69 and 70:
Gerd, who tries to reject the love
Page 71 and 72:
One of the signs that Ragnarok and
Page 73 and 74:
conqueror in hundreds of battles, t
Page 75 and 76:
While a terrible winter is raging,
Page 77 and 78:
dead) beings called ásmegir and á
Page 79 and 80:
in the dialects of several Germanic
Page 81 and 82:
As maid-servants under Urd, there a
Page 83 and 84:
30; Grímnismál 36; Skáldskaparm
Page 85 and 86:
final destiny received Hel-shoes li
Page 87 and 88:
on horseback, with wisdom in their
Page 89 and 90:
THE CHOOSING. THE MIDDLE-AGE FABLE
Page 91 and 92:
67. THE PSYCHOPOMPS OF THOSE NOT FA
Page 93 and 94:
In our mythical records there is me
Page 95 and 96:
sorcery is designated in Völuspá
Page 97 and 98:
dead. Another road went to the sout
Page 99 and 100:
The Aesir go to the thingstead near
Page 101 and 102:
unes which Hadding applied were car
Page 103 and 104:
majority of cases the fame acquired
Page 105 and 106:
In Völuspá 26 orð is employed in
Page 107 and 108:
To understand this strophe correctl
Page 109 and 110:
life. Hades-images of those things
Page 111 and 112:
The hamingja hears of it before any
Page 113 and 114:
He who has observed these virtues m
Page 115 and 116: it is said that an immense subterra
Page 117 and 118: The author of the second song about
Page 119 and 120: him (in the capacity of hilmir Fán
Page 121 and 122: uttering a sound; but, when the spi
Page 123 and 124: Their way from Urd's well goes to t
Page 125 and 126: grotto" - reka einn fyrir Geitis gn
Page 127 and 128: is also Saxo's statement, that the
Page 129 and 130: and in one of the dotted lines the
Page 131 and 132: Saxo further says that the floor is
Page 133 and 134: Codex Regius (36) A fellr austan vm
Page 135 and 136: 78. THE PLACES OF PUNISHMENT (conti
Page 137 and 138: There are at least three caves of t
Page 139 and 140: itself. 5 The true etymology of Mú
Page 141 and 142: go to show that Loki and his son ar
Page 143 and 144: tradition explained how the mill ca
Page 145 and 146: Vafþrúðnismál does not mean a w
Page 147 and 148: In its character as an institution
Page 149 and 150: According to Sólarljóð, the mill
Page 151 and 152: an isle, and which around this isla
Page 153 and 154: corrupted by contact with improper
Page 155 and 156: instructed men in praying and sacri
Page 157 and 158: Point by point the descriptions of
Page 159 and 160: or turn, wind, to turn anything aro
Page 161 and 162: element (see No. 35) was not only i
Page 163 and 164: this race has its chieftain, and th
Page 165: 22). During the war between the Aes
Page 169 and 170: Tveggja bága Njörva nipt á nesi
Page 171 and 172: (e) As the father of Nott, living i
Page 173 and 174: The discrepancy shows that the auth
Page 175 and 176: patronymic or, in other respects, o
Page 177 and 178: The two fundamental ideas of the my
Page 179 and 180: the quoted Vafþrúðnismál stroph
Page 181 and 182: "mortals" can scarcely cross its th
Page 183 and 184: Though Völund is in the highest de
Page 185 and 186: The names, epithets, and paraphrase
Page 187 and 188: former. The name mjötviður, with
Page 189 and 190: 103, 104) that on this occasion he
Page 191 and 192: concerned, from the expression að
Page 193 and 194: Ölvaldi, Ölmóður, and Sumbli fi
Page 195 and 196: Mimir and Urd. That he tried to get
Page 197 and 198: him they have called Svithiod geiri
Page 199 and 200: nourish the roots of the world-tree
Page 201 and 202: Some monosyllabic names ending in -
Page 203 and 204: out there. We must therefore choose
Page 205 and 206: wind-ship" (ausa Hertýs víngnóð
Page 207 and 208: mythology rescued in Germany, the s
Page 209 and 210: weapons of his foes. Surrounded by
Page 211 and 212: The misfortune which happened first
Page 213 and 214: atmosphere, and as we have also lea
Page 215 and 216: get light on this point. According
Page 217 and 218:
Ægir's hall is far out in the dept
Page 219 and 220:
which once was his, after the arch
Page 221 and 222:
In the strophe immediately precedin
Page 223 and 224:
form given above it appears through
Page 225 and 226:
the Frisians pursued by the plunder
Page 227 and 228:
that is to say, that they are the s
Page 229 and 230:
hiti við himin sjálfan -- "high l
Page 231 and 232:
Syrian" who had interpreted the sto
Page 233 and 234:
The anthropological conception pres
Page 235 and 236:
mælsku þína og meginhyggjur. you
Page 237 and 238:
serpent-symbol of eternity, the liq
Page 239 and 240:
spirit, and on the other hand by th
Page 241:
covering of a personal kernel (óð
show all

Chapters 44-95 - Germanic Mythology

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?