Skírnismál

''Skírnismál'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Skírnir') is one of the poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. 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's throne, Hliðskjálf and looked over all the worlds. On looking to Jötunheimr, 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
[m
le,_authoritarian_disapproval.html" ;"title="">[m
le, authoritarian disapproval">">[m
le, authoritarian disapproval.

Cultural references

Skírnir's curse has partial parallels in a number of Old Norse texts, including the curse known as ''Buslubæn'' in ''Bósa saga'' and the Bergen rune-charm.

The Misty Mountains of J. R. R. Tolkien'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

Bibliography

*

External links

MyNDIR (My Norse Digital Image repository)
illustrations from Victorian and Edwardian retellings of Skírnismál. Clicking on the thumbnail will give you the full image and information concerning it.

Translations

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

Article by Rick McGregor

Heinz Klingenberg, "''För Skírnis'': Brautwerbungsfahrt eines Werbungshelfers", ''Alvíssmál'' 6 (1996): 21–62 (see English summary, pp. 59–62).

Anatoly Liberman, Review of Klaus von See et al., ''"Skírnismál": Modell eines Edda-Kommentars''
''Alvíssmál'' 6 (1996): 114–18.]

Anne Heinrichs, "Der liebeskranke Freyr, euhemeristisch entmythisiert", ''Alvíssmál'' 7 (1997): 3–36 (see English summary, p. 36).
*Larrington, Carolyne. "What Does Woman Want? Mær und munr in ''Skírnismál". Alvíssmál'', vol. 1, 1992, pp. 3-16.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skirnismal
Sources of Norse mythology
Eddic poetry
Freyr