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Níðhöggr
In Norse mythology, Níðhöggr (''Malice Striker'', in Old Norse traditionally also spelled Níðhǫggr , often anglicized NidhoggWhile the suffix of the name, ''-höggr'', clearly means "striker" the prefix is not as clear. In particular, the length of the first vowel is not determined in the original sources. Some scholars prefer the reading Niðhöggr (''Striker in the Dark'').) is a dragon who gnaws at a root of the world tree, Yggdrasil. In historical Viking society, níð was a term for a social stigma, implying the loss of honor and the status of a villain. Thus, its name might refer to its role as a terrible monster in its action of chewing the corpses of the inhabitants of Náströnd: those guilty of murder, adultery, and oath-breaking. Orthography In the standardized Old Norse orthography, the name is spelled ', but the letter ' is frequently replaced with the Modern Icelandic ' for reasons of familiarity or technical expediency. The name can be represented in E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil (from Old Norse ), in Norse cosmology, is an immense and central sacred tree. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds. Yggdrasil is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in the ''Prose Edda'' compiled in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, Yggdrasil is an immense ash tree that is central to the cosmos and considered very holy. The gods go to Yggdrasil daily to assemble at their traditional governing assemblies, called things. The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations; one to the well Urðarbrunnr in the heavens, one to the spring Hvergelmir, and another to the well Mímisbrunnr. Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the dragon Níðhöggr, an unnamed eagle, and the stags Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór. Scholars generally consider ''Hoddmímis holt'', ''Mímameiðr' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yggdrasill
Yggdrasil (from Old Norse ), in Norse cosmology, is an immense and central sacred tree. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds. Yggdrasil is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in the ''Prose Edda'' compiled in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, Yggdrasil is an immense ash tree that is central to the cosmos and considered very holy. The gods go to Yggdrasil daily to assemble at their traditional governing assemblies, called things. The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations; one to the well Urðarbrunnr in the heavens, one to the spring Hvergelmir, and another to the well Mímisbrunnr. Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the dragon Níðhöggr, an unnamed eagle, and the stags Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór. Scholars generally consider ''Hoddmímis holt'', ''Mímamei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ratatoskr
In Norse mythology, Ratatoskr (Old Norse, generally considered to mean "drill-tooth"Orchard (1997:129), Simek (2007:261), and Byock (2005:173). or "bore-tooth"Lindow (2001:259).) is a squirrel who runs up and down the world tree Yggdrasil to carry messages between the eagles perched atop Yggdrasil, and the serpent Níðhöggr, who dwells beneath one of the three roots of the tree. Ratatoskr is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. Etymology The name ''Ratatoskr'' contains two elements: ''rata-'' and ''-toskr''. The element ''toskr'' is generally held to mean "tusk". Guðbrandur Vigfússon theorized that the ''rati-'' element means "the traveller". He says that the name of the legendary drill Rati may feature the same term. According to Vigfússon, ''Ratatoskr'' means "tusk the traveller" or "the climber tusk."Guðbrandur (1874:483). Sophus Bugge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, (; non, wikt:ragnarǫk, Ragnarǫk) is a series of events, including a great battle, foretelling the death of numerous great figures (including the Æsir, gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr, and Loki), natural disasters, and the submersion of the world in water. After these events, the world will rise again, cleansed and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet and the world will be repopulated by Líf and Lífþrasir, two human survivors. is an important event in Norse mythology and has been the subject of scholarly discourse and theory in the history of Germanic studies. The event is attested primarily in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In the ''Prose Edda'' and in a single poem in the ''Poetic Edda'', the event is referred to as (), a usage popularised by 19th-century composer Richard Wagner with the title of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germanic Dragon
Dragons are present in Germanic mythology and folklore, where they are often portrayed as large venomous serpents. Especially in later tales, however, they share many common features with other dragons in European mythology. Origin, appearance and terminology In early depictions, as with dragons in other cultures, the distinction between Germanic dragons and regular snakes is blurred, with both being referred to as Old Norse or Old English from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz. ''Wyrm'' has since been borrowed back into Modern English to mean "dragon", while the descendent term ''worm'' remains used in Modern English to refer to dragons, especially those lacking wings. In Fáfnismál, the dragon Fáfnir is described as flightless and snake-like, and is referred to as an . In the later Völsunga saga, however, he has shoulders, suggesting legs, wings or both, and is referred to as both a and an . Similarly, the dragon in Beowulf is referred to as both a and a , although in some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Náströnd
In Norse mythology, Nástrǫnd ("Corpse Shore") is a place in Hel where Níðhöggr lives and chews on corpses. It is the afterlife for those guilty of murder, adultery, and oath-breaking. Orthography In the standardized Old Norse orthography, the name was spelled ''Nástrǫnd'', which in 11th century Old West Norse was pronounced . In Modern Icelandic the letter ' ǫ' is replaced by ö, and Náströnd is pronounced . ''Poetic Edda'' The ''Völuspá'' says: ''Prose Edda'' Snorri Sturluson quotes this part of Völuspá in the ''Gylfaginning'' section of his Prose Edda. He uses the plural of the word: Nástrandir (''Corpse Shores''). See also *Hel (being) *Hel (realm) *Niflheim *Niflhel References * Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (transl.) (1916). ''The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson''. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) is an American non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting international understanding throug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Veðrfölnir And Eagle
In Norse mythology, Veðrfölnir (Old Norse "storm pale,"Lindow (2001:312). "wind bleached",Byock (2005:26). or "wind-witherer"Orchard (1997:174).) is a hawk sitting between the eyes of an unnamed eagle that is perched on top of the world tree Yggdrasil. ''Veðrfölnir'' is sometimes modernly anglicized as Vedrfolnir, Vedurfolnir or Vetrfolnir. The unnamed eagle is attested in both the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, while Veðrfölnir is solely attested in the ''Prose Edda''. In both the ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'', the squirrel Ratatoskr carries messages between the unnamed eagle and Nidhöggr, the worm that resides below the world tree. Scholars have proposed theories about the implications of the birds. Attestations In the ''Poetic Edda'' poem ''Grímnismál'', the god Odin (disguised as '' Grimnir'') says that: The eagle is again attested ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niflheimr
In Norse cosmology, Niflheim or Niflheimr (Old Norse: ; "World of Mist", literally "Home of Mist") is a location which sometimes overlaps with the notions of Niflhel and Hel. The name ''Niflheimr'' appears only in two extant sources: ''Gylfaginning'' and the much-debated ''Hrafnagaldr Óðins''. Niflheim was primarily a realm of primordial ice and cold, with the frozen rivers of Élivágar and the well of Hvergelmir, from which come all the rivers. According to ''Gylfaginning'', Niflheim was the second of the two primordial realms to emanate out of Ginnungagap, the other one being Muspelheim, the realm of fire. Between these two realms of cold and heat, creation began when its waters mixed with the heat of Muspelheim to form a "creating steam". Later, it became the abode of Hel, a goddess daughter of Loki, and the afterlife for her subjects, those who did not die a heroic or notable death. Etymology ''Nifl'' ("mist"; whence the Icelandic '' nifl'') is a cognate to the Old E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Tree
The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions, Siberian religions, and Native American religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the terrestrial world, and, through its roots, the underworld. It may also be strongly connected to the motif of the tree of life, but it is the source of wisdom of the ages. Specific world trees include '' égig érő fa'' in Hungarian mythology, Ağaç Ana in Turkic mythology, Andndayin Ca˙r in Armenian mythology, Modun in Mongol mythology, '' Yggdrasil'' in Norse mythology, Irminsul in Germanic mythology, the oak in Slavic, Finnish and Baltic, Iroko in Yoruba religion, ''Jianmu'' in Chinese mythology, and in Hindu mythology the '' Ashvattha'' (a ''Ficus religiosa''). General description Scholarship states that many Eurasian mythologies share the motif of the "world tree", "cosmic tree", or "Eagle and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niðafjöll
In Norse mythology, Niðafjöll (pronounced , also written Niðvellir, often anglicized as Nidafjöll), which means ''dark mountains'', are located in the northern underworld. Niðafjöll is the site from which the dragon Níðhöggr comes. According to Snorri Sturluson, the good and virtuous people will live here in a golden palace after the Ragnarök, despite its proximity to Hel. Niðafjöll is mentioned in ''Völuspá'' from the Poetic Edda. References Other sources *Faulkes, Anthony (trans. and ed.) (1987) ''Edda of Snorri Sturluson'' (Everyman's Library) * Lindow, John (2001) ''Handbook of Norse mythology'' (Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio) * Orchard, Andy (1997) ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend'' (Cassell) * Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology'' (D.S. Brewer) External links * Bellows, Henry Adams (trans.) (1923) ''The Poetic Edda''. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation The American-Scandinavian Foundation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Völuspá
''Vǫluspá'' (also ''Völuspá'', ''Vǫlospá'' or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse: ) is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end and subsequent rebirth, related to the audience by a völva addressing Odin. It is one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology. The poem is preserved whole in the Codex Regius and Hauksbók manuscripts while parts of it are quoted in the ''Prose Edda''. Preservation ''Völuspá'' is found in the Icelandic Codex Regius manuscript (ca. 1270) and in Haukr Erlendsson's '' Hauksbók'' Codex (ca. 1334), and many of its stanzas are quoted or paraphrased in the Prose Edda (composed ca. 1220, oldest extant manuscript dates from ca. 1300). The order and number of the stanzas varies in these sources. Some editors and translators have further rearranged the material. The Codex Regius version is usually t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddic Poem
The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic medieval manuscript known as the ''Codex Regius'', which contains 31 poems. The ''Codex Regius'' is arguably the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends. Since the early 19th century, it has had a powerful influence on Scandinavian literature, not only through its stories, but also through the visionary force and the dramatic quality of many of the poems. It has also been an inspiration for later innovations in poetic meter, particularly in Nordic languages, with its use of terse, stress-based metrical schemes that lack final rhymes, instead focusing on alliterative devices and strongly concentrated imagery. Poets who have acknowledged their debt to the ''Codex Regius'' include Vilhelm Ekelund, August Strin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_The_Cosmos_in_the_Norse_mythology.jpg "Click for more on -> Niflheimr")
