Chapters 44-95 - Germanic Mythology

(d) Ynglingatal 7 (Ynglingasaga, ch. 17). Of King Dyggvi, who died from
disease, it is said that jódís Narva chose him. The right to choose those who die from
disease belongs to the norns alone (see No. 69). Jódís, a word doubtless produced by a
vowel change from the Old Germanic idis, has already in olden times been interpreted
partly as horse-dis (from jór, horse), partly as the dis of one's kin (from jóð, child,
offspring). In this case the skald has taken advantage of both significations. 4 He calls the
death-dis jódís úlfs og Narva, the wolf's horse-dis, Narvi's kin-dis. In regard to the former
signification, it should be remembered that the wolf is horse for all giantesses, the
honored norns not excepted. Cp. grey norna as a paraphrase for wolf.
Thus what our mythic records tell us about Narvi is:
(a) He is one of the oldest beings of theogony, older than the upper part of the
world constructed by Bur's sons.
(b) He is of giant descent.
(c) He is father of Nott, father-in-law of Naglfari, Onar, and of Delling, the elf of
the rosy dawn; and he is the father of Dag's mother, of Unnr, and of the goddess Jord,
who becomes Odin's wife and Thor's mother. Bonds of kinship thus connect him with the
Aesir and with gods of other ranks.
(d) He is near akin to the dis of fate and death, Urd and her sisters. The word nipt,
with which Urd's relation to him is indicated, may mean sister, daughter, and sister's
daughter, and consequently does not state which particular one of these it is. 5 It seems
upon the whole to have been applied well-nigh exclusively in regard to mythic persons,
and particularly in regard to Urd and her sisters (cp. above: Njörva nipt, nipt Nara, nipt
Nera), so that it almost acquired the meaning of dis or norn. This is evident from
Nafnaþulur 26: Nornir heita þær er nauð skapa; Nipt ok Dís nú eru taldar, and from the
expression heil Nótt og Nipt in the above-cited strophe from Sigurdrífumál. There is
every reason for assuming that the Nipt, which is here used as a proper noun, in this sense
means the dis of fate and as an appellation of kinship, a kinswoman of Nott. The common
interpretation of heil Nótt og Nipt is "hail Nott and her daughter," and by her daughter is
then meant the goddess Jord; but this interpretation is, as Bugge has shown, less
probable, for the goddess Jord immediately below gets her special greeting in the words:
heil sjá in fjölnýta Fold! ("Hail the bounteous earth!")
4 The etymology of the word jódis is obscure, and may be related to the Old Saxon idisi, used in The First
Merseburg Charm of supernatural women who hinder armies. Elsewhere the word refers to well-respected
women. In Old Norse, the meaning "sister" is attested to. The reading "horse-dis" is possible. However, as
noted, this interpretation relies on a play of words which has no parallel. Thus, there is no way to
effectively confirm it or rule it out.
5 This narrows down the possibilities considerably. If Mimir is Narvi, then Urd can only be his sister, his
daughter, or his sister's daughter. Thus Urd is either Mimir's sister Bestla, and identical with Mimir's wife
and Odin's mother; or Urd is a daughter of Mimir, and either identical to or a sister of Night; or Urd is
Bestla's daughter, and therefore Odin's sister (which may explain the reference to a sister of Odin in
Hávamál 163). The available evidence does not settle on which, and reasonable arguments can be made for
all three.