Dís

In Norse mythology, a dís (Old Norse: , "lady", plural dísir ) is a female deity, ghost, or spirit associated with Fate who can be either benevolent or antagonistic toward mortals. Dísir may act as protective spirits of Norse clans. It is possible that their original function was that of fertility goddesses who were the object of both private and official worship called dísablót,The article ''Diser'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1991). and their veneration may derive from the worship of the spirits of the dead. The dísir, like the valkyries, norns, and vættir, are always referred collectively in surviving references. The North Germanic dísir and West Germanic Idisi are believed by some scholars to be related due to linguistic and mythological similarities,Gods and Myths of Northern Europe by H. Davidson, Penguin Books, 1990, pp. 62-64, but the direct evidence of Anglo-Saxon and Continental German mythology is limited. The dísir play roles in Norse texts that resemble those of fylgjur, valkyries, and norns, so that some have suggested that dísir is a broad term including the other beings.The article
Dis
' in ''Nordisk familjebok'' (1907).

Etymology and meaning

Researchers suggest that the basic meaning of the word dís is "goddess".

It usually is said to be derived from the Indo-European root *''dhēi-'', "to suck, suckle" and a form ''dhīśana''.

Scholars have associated the Dísir with the West Germanic Idisi, seeing the initial ''i-'' as having been lost early in Old or Proto-Norse. Jacob Grimm points out that ''dís Skjöldunga'' in the Eddic Helgakviða Hundingsbana II (v. 52) is exactly parallel to ''ides Scildinga'' "Scylding queen" in Beowulf (l. 1168). He also suggests that Iðunn may be a reflex of the original form of the word. However, except for the First Merseburg Charm, in which they work battle-magic, ''idis'' only occurs with the meaning "lady", sometimes "maiden." The words are not presumed to be directly related by some scholars, although the resemblance evidently led to influence on Old Norse poetic use.

Other scholars group all female deities and spirits associated with battle under the class of idis, dis, valkyrie, and other names, such as sigewif (victory-women, associated by the Anglo-Saxons with a swarm of bees), and find the commonalities both linguistically and in surviving myths and magic charms sufficient cause to group together all variations on this theme from various Germanic cultures.

Stories from these and other cultures survive from earlier dates than the Eddas and it is difficult to conclusively construct a clear pre-Christian mythology without conjecture. However, the Germanic languages appear to have had a northward, rather than southward, progression from the initial contact with the speakers of Indo-European languages near Denmark or Jutland.A Linguistic History of English: From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic by Donald Ringe, Oxford University Press, 2009, H. Davidson notes a similar northward progression of mythology where elements of Proto-Germanic concepts have metamorphosed or been combined by the time of the initial recording of the Icelandic sagas.

According to Rudolf Simek, Old Norse ''dís'' appears commonly as simply a term for 'woman', just as Old High German '' itis'', Old Saxon '' idis'', and Anglo-Saxon '' ides''. It also may have been used to denote a type of goddess. According to Simek, "several of the Eddic sources might lead us to conclude that the ''disir'' were valkyrie-like guardians of the dead, and, indeed, in ''Guðrúnarkviða'' I 19 the valkyries are even called ''Herjans disir'' 'Odin's disir'. The ''disir'' are explicitly called dead women in '' Atlamál'' 28. A secondary belief that the ''disir'' were the souls of dead women (see '' fylgjur'') also underlies the '' landdísir'' of Icelandic folklore."Simek (2007:61–62).

Simek says that "as the function of the matrons was also extremely varied – fertility goddess, personal guardians, but also warrior-goddesses – the belief in the ''dísir'', like the belief in the valkyries, norns, and matrons, may be considered to be different manifestations of a belief in a number of female (half-?) goddesses."

Dísablót

There is considerable evidence that the dísir were worshipped in Scandinavia in pagan times.

Firstly, a sacrificial festival (blót) honouring them, the ''dísablót'', is mentioned in one version of '' Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs'' and in '' Víga-Glúms saga'', ''Egils saga'', and the ''Heimskringla''."Disablot", ''Nationalencyklopedin''. According to ''Víga-Glúms saga'' it was held at Winter Nights (at the onset of winter).

In ''Hervarar saga'', the dísablót is also held in autumn, and is performed by a woman, the daughter of King Álfr of Álfheim, who "reddens the '' hörgr'' with sacrifices and is subsequently rescued by the god Thor after she has been abducted. John Lindow suggests that, on its face the text depicts a mythological model for human behavior. In western Scandinavia, dísablót appears to have been a private observance. Even the large gathering in ''Víga-Glúms saga'' was for family and friends.

In contrast, according to the ''Saga of St. Olaf'' in ''Heimskringla'', at Gamla Uppsala the dísablót was celebrated during the month of Gói, i.e. in late February or early March, and accompanied by a popular assembly known as the Thing of all Swedes or ''Dísaþing'' and a yearly Fair. When Christianity arrived, the assembly and market were moved to a Christian feast at the beginning of February:

At the time when heathendom still prevailed in Sweden, it was an old custom there that the main sacrifices were held in Uppsala in the month of Gói... Sacrifices were to be made at that time for peace and victory for the king, and people from all over Sweden were to resort there. At that place and time also was to be the assembly of all Swedes, and there was also a market and a fair which lasted a week. Now when Christianity was introduced, the general assembly and the market were still held there. But at present, when Christianity is general in Sweden and the kings have ceased residing at Uppsala, the market has been shifted to meet at Candlemas... but now it lasts only three days. The general assembly of the Swedes is there.

The name Dísaþing (now '' Disting'') remained in use, however, and the Fair is still held every year in Uppsala on the first Tuesday in February. It may be one of the oldest in Sweden.The article ''Distingen'', in the encyclopedia ''Nationalencyklopedin''.

The stated purpose of the dísablót at Uppsala is to sacrifice for peace and victory. Norwegian places called ''Disin'', from Old Norse ''Dísavin'', "meadow of the dísir", and the possible relationship of the word to the Indian ''dhīsanas'' have suggested to some scholars that the dísir were fertility deities.

There are two mentions of a hall or temple of a dís. Hollander translates ''dísarsálr'' as "the hall of the goddess". In the ''Ynglinga saga'' part of ''Heimskringla'', Aðils, the king of Sweden, dies when he rides one of his horses around the ''dísarsálr'' at the time of Dísablót and he is thrown and brains himself on a rock, perhaps suggesting a ritual killing. It also appears in '' Hervarar saga'' where Helga becomes so infuriated over the death of her father at the hands of Heiðrekr, her husband, that she hangs herself in the shrine.

Although Snorri Sturluson does not mention the dísir in the Prose Edda, he does list ''Vanadís''—'dís of the Vanir'— as a name for Freyja, and ''öndurdís''—'snow-shoe dís'—as a name for Skaði. He notes that in both cases the compound using dís immediately follows one using ''goð'', 'deity': ''Vanagoð'', ''öndurgoð''. Lotte Motz suggested that dís was the original Old Norse word for 'goddess' and that it had been replaced later by '' ásynja'', which is simply the feminine of áss.

Relationship to other female figures

In many texts, the dísir are equated to or seem to play the same role as other female figures.

In '' Þiðranda þáttr ok Þórhalls'', the youth Þiðrandi is killed by dísir dressed in black, riding black horses, while a troop of dísir dressed in white and riding white horses are unable to save him. The two groups represent the struggle between heathenry and Christianity. The benevolent dísir here play the role of tutelary spirits associated with a family, and Thorhall the Prophet explains them as '' fylgjur''. The dísir are also referred to as if they are, or include, protective fylgjur in an exchange of verses in '' Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka''. Útsteinn quarrels with Úlfr at the court of King Eysteinn of Denmark, saying he believes "our dísir" have come with him, armed, to Denmark. Úlfr replies that he thinks all the dísir of Útsteinn and his men are dead and their luck run out.

In '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'', when the hero Helgi Hundingsbane first meets the valkyrie Sigrún, the poet calls her a "dís of the south". Henry Adams Bellows rendered this simply "the southern maid".

The dísir are also equated with or play the role of norns. They give an impression of great age, but by the time of the oldest surviving texts, their significance had become blurred and the word had lost almost all distinct meaning.

Accordingly, some scholars have argued that ''dísir'' may be the original term for the valkyries (lit. "choosers of the slain"), which in turn would be a kenning for ''dís''. Unlike the mentions of the ''valkyrja'' and ''norn'', the term ''dís'' never appears in the Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson.

As stated above, ''dís'' has been regarded as cognate with Old High German ''itis'', Old Saxon ''idis'' and the Anglo-Saxon ''ides'', all meaning "lady",; and ''idisi'' appears as the name of the valkyries in the only surviving pagan source from Germany, the ''Merseburg Incantations'' (see below). ''Dís'' also had the meaning "lady" in Old Norse poetry, as in the case of Freyja, whose name means "lady" (''frawjō'') and who is called ''Vanadís'' ("lady of the vanir").

Adding to the ambiguous meaning of ''dís'' is the fact that just as supernatural women were called ''dísir'' in the sense "ladies", mortal women were frequently called by names for supernatural women, as noted by Snorri Sturluson in ''Skáldskaparmál'':

The name ''dís'' appears in several place names in Norway and Sweden. Moreover, it was a common element in the names of girls, as evidenced on runestones, and it still is in Iceland.

The word appears as a first element in Old High German female given names such as Itispuruc and Itislant. More frequent are Old Norse given names such as Thórdís, Hjördís, Ásdís, Vigdís, Halldís, Freydís.

Old Norse sources

In a couple of Eddic and skaldic poems, and in various kennings the generic ''dísir'' appears instead of the more specific labels ''norns'', ''fylgjas'', and ''valkyries''.

The eddic poem '' Hamðismál'' deals with how Hamðir and Sörli go to the Gothic king Ermanaric to exact vengeance for the cruel death of their half-sister Svanhild. On the way, they kill their reluctant brother Erpr. Later, knowing that he is about to die at the hands of the Goths, Sörli talks of the cruelty of the dísir who incited him to kill Erpr, because he would have cut off the head of Ermanaric and made their expedition successful. In this poem, ''dísir'' appears as a synonym of norns and the translator Henry Adams Bellows simply translates ''dísir'' as ''norns'':

In '' Grímnismál'', the wise Grímnir (Odin) predicts king Geirröðr's death, which he attributes to the wrath of the dísir. Again, ''dísir'' is used as a synonym for the norns:See Bellows' commentary
/ref>

In '' Reginsmál'', the unmarried Lyngheiðr is called ''dís ulfhuguð'' (dís/lady with the soul of a wolf) as an insult. Later in the same poem, there is a stanza, where the dísir appear as female spirits accompanying a warrior in order to see him dead in battle, a role where they are synonymous with valkyries:

An additional instance where dís is synonymous with valkyrie is the skaldic poem ''Krákumál'' – composed by Ragnarr Loðbrók while awaiting his death in a snake pit. It features the line: ''Heim bjóða mér dísir'' (the dísir invite me home), as one of several poetic circumscriptions for what awaits him.

One source seems to describe the Dísir as the ghosts or spirits of dead women. In '' Atlamál'', believed to have been written in Greenland in the twelfth century, the character ''Glaumvör'' warns her husband Gunnar that she had a dream about the Dísir. Some of the surrounding text has been lost and it is not known what Gunnar may have said prior to this, and there is disagreement on which stanza number this should be given. A possible translation of the material is given as follows by John Lindow in his 2001 book ''Norse Mythology'':

See also

* Disa
* Grendel's mother
* Hamingja
* Landdísir

Citations

General and cited references

* Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. D.S. Brewer

External links

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