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 ...

, the Kerlaugar (plural form 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 ...

''kerlaug'' "kettle-bath",Orchard (1997:100).) i.e. "bath-tub", are two

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s through which the god

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

wades. The Kerlaugar are attested 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 ...

'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, and in a citation of the same verse 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 ...

'', 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 ...

Attestations

The Kerlaugar are mentioned once in the ''

''. In the ''Poetic Edda'' poem ''

Grímnismál ''Grímnismál'' (Old Norse: ; 'The Lay of Grímnir') is one of the mythological poems of the '' Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript and the AM 748 I 4to fragment. It is spoken through the voice of ''Grímnir'', one ...

'', Grímnir notes that the bridge Asbrú "burns all with flames" and that, every day, the god Thor wades through the waters of Körmt and Örmt and the two Kerlaugar:

In the ''

'', the rivers are mentioned twice, once in ''

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 ...

'' and once in ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'Poetic Diction' or 'The Language of Poetry'; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda'', compiled by Snorri Sturluson. It consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bra ...

''. In ''Gylfaginning'', High says that Thor wades through rivers to go to court, and then quotes the above cited ''Grímnismál'' stanza in support.Faulkes (1995:18). In ''Skáldskaparmál'', the Kerlaugar appear in the list of rivers in the '' Nafnaþulur''.Faulkes (1995:161).

Theories and interpretations

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 ...

comments that the meaning is "strange" and may point to an otherwise lost myth about Thor.Simek (2007:183). On the other hand Guðbrandur Vigfússon argued that it and several other river names in the same poem were Irish in origin and related it to river names beginning in ''Ker''- or ''Char''- such as Cherwell. He and Frederick York Powell rendered it "Charlocks" in ''Corpus Poeticum Boreale''. Thor frequently crosses rivers in the mythology;Lindow (2001:290).

John Lindow John Frederick Lindow (born July 23, 1946) is an American philologist who is Professor Emeritus of Old Norse and Folklore at University of California, Berkeley. He is a well known authority on Old Norse religion and literature. Biography John Lin ...

suggests this is due to the large amount of time he spends in the realms of the jötnar, "who live on the other sides of boundaries", and points to a symbolic connection between jötnar and water, citing the ocean-dwelling

Jörmungandr In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr (, see Etymology), also known as the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent (, "worm of Midgard"), is an unfathomably large and monstrous sea serpent or worm who dwells in the world sea, encircling the Earth ( Midga ...

as an example.Lindow (2001:290—291).

Notes

References

* Bellows, Henry Adams (1923). ''The Poetic Edda''. American-Scandinavian Foundation. * Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). ''Edda''.

Everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin and history The term ''everyman'' was used ...

. * Gudbrand Vigfusson (Ed.) (1878). ''Sturlunga Saga: including the Islendinga Saga of Lawman Sturla Thordsson''. Volume 1.

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. * Gudbrand Vigfusson, York Powell, F. (Ed. and trans.) (1883). ''Corpus Poeticum Boreale''. Volume 1: Eddic Poetry. Clarendon Press. * Lindow, John (2001).
Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs
'.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. * Orchard, Andy (1997).
Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend
'. Cassell. * Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. D.S. Brewer. * de Vries, Jan (1970). ''Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte''. Volume 2. 3rd ed.

Walter de Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

. * Thorpe, Benjamin (Trans.) (1907). ''Edda Sæmundar Hinns Frôða The Edda of Sæmund the Learned''. Part I. London Trübner & Co.

Sources

* Sturtevant, Albert Morey (1951). "Etymological Comments on Certain Words and Names in the Elder Edda". PMLA volume 66, no. 2.
JSTOR 459605
{{Norse mythology Rivers in Norse mythology Thor