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, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern per ...

, Fensalir (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

Fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...

Halls"Orchard (1997:43).) is a location where the goddess

Frigg Frigg (; Old Norse: ) is a goddess, one of the Æsir, in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about her, she is associated with marriage, prophecy, clairvoyance and motherhood, and dwells in the wet ...

dwells. Fensalir is attested in the ''

Poetic Edda 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 med ...

'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been ...

'', 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 ...

. Scholars have proposed theories about the implications of the location, including that the location may have some connection to religious practices involving springs,

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

s, or

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s in

Norse paganism Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peopl ...

, and that it may be connected to the goddess Sága's watery location Sökkvabekkr.

Attestations

In the ''Poetic Edda'' poem ''

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 ...

'', Frigg is described as weeping over her son

Baldr Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was ...

's death in Fensalir. This stanza is absent in the '' Hauksbók'' manuscript of the poem.Lindow (2001:114). The portion of the stanza mentioning Fensalir foretells that vengeance will come for the death of Baldr and that:

:while Frigg wept :in Fen Halls :for Valhǫll's woe.Dronke (1997:16).

In chapter 35 of the ''Prose Edda'' book ''

Gylfaginning ''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; c. 20,000 words; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'' after the Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' deals with t ...

'',

High High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...

tells Gangleri (described as king

Gylfi In Norse mythology, Gylfi (Old Norse: ), ''Gylfe'', ''Gylvi'', or ''Gylve'' was the earliest recorded king in Scandinavia. He often uses the name Gangleri when appearing in disguise. The traditions on Gylfi deal with how he was tricked by the god ...

in disguise) that Frigg is the highest among the ásynjur or Aesir, and that "she has a dwelling called Fensalir and it is very splendid."Faulkes (1995:29). In chapter 49, High says that when

Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi ...

witnessed that Baldr had gained invincibility due to the oath all things took not to harm him, Loki went to Fensalir appearing as a woman. In his disguise, Loki there asked Frigg why Baldr was not harmed by the objects. Frigg revealed that it is due to the oath they have taken. The disguised Loki asks if nothing can hurt Baldr, and Frigg reveals that only

mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. ...

can, for it seemed to her too young to demand an oath from. After this, Loki immediately disappears, and subsequently engineers the death of Baldr with a mistletoe projectile.Faulkes (1995:48). In the ''Prose Edda'' book ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda''. The section consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bragi, the god of poetry, ...

'', Fensalir receives a third and final mention. In chapter 19, ways to refer to Frigg are provided, including that Frigg may be referred to as "queen of

Æsir The Æsir (Old Norse: ) are the gods of the principal pantheon in Norse religion. They include Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, and Baldr. The second Norse pantheon is the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage war against each other, ...

and Asyniur, of

Fulla Fulla (Old Norse: , possibly 'bountiful') or Volla (Old High German, 'plenitude') is a goddess in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Fulla is described as wearing a golden band and as tending to the ashen box and the footwear owned by the g ...

and

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

form and Fensalir."Faulkes (1995:86).

Theories

In 1882, the German scholar Anton Edzardi proposed that Fensalir may point to religious practices involving springs.Edzardi (1882:330–339) referenced in Lindow (2001:115).

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 ...

comments that "I have no idea why Frigg should live in a

gy place, despite the old argument that there is an association with a cult situated at a spring."

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 o ...

comments that Edzardi's theory "must remain unanswered."Simek (2007:81). In addition, Edzardi theorized a connection between Fensalir and a belief in folklore that particular swamps act as an entrance to the realm of

Holda "Frau Holle" ( ; also known as "Mother Holle", "Mother Hulda" or "Old Mother Frost") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Children's and Household Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 24). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 480. Frau Holle (al ...

, whom he connects with Frigg.Gildersleeve (1883:105). In a 19th-century work,

Paul Henri Mallet Paul Henri Mallet (20 August 1730 – 8 February 1807) was a Genevan writer. Life He was born and educated in Geneva. He became tutor in the family of the count of Calenberg in Lower Saxony. In 1752 he was appointed professor of ''belles l ...

and Walter Scott write that the "fen" element of ''Fensalir'' "may also be made to sig ifythe watery deep, or the

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

."Mallet, Scott (1847:550). This

etymology Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...

has resulted in theories that the name ''Fensalir'' may mean "Sea Halls" rather than "Fen Halls." In his 19th-century translation of the ''Poetic Edda'', Henry Adams Bellows comments that "some scholars have regarded riggas a solar myth, calling her the sun-goddess, and pointing out that her home in ''Fensalir'' ("the sea-halls") symbolizes the daily setting of the sun beneath the ocean horizon."Bellows (2004:15).

says that due to similarity between the goddess Sága's Sökkvabekkr and Fensalir, the open drinking between Sága and Odin, and the potential etymological basis for Sága being a seeress "have led most scholars to understand Sága as another name for Frigg."Lindow (2001:265).

Stephan Grundy Stephan Scott Grundy (June 28, 1967 – September 29, 2021),
''The Wild Hunt'', October 5, 20 ...

states that ''Sága'' and ''Sökkvabekkr'' may be by-forms of ''Frigg'' and ''Fensalir'' used for the purpose of composing

alliterative verse In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal ornamental device to help indicate the underlying metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of ...

.Grundy (1999:62). Britt-Mari Näsström theorizes that "Frigg's role as a fertility goddess is revealed in the name of her abode, Fensalir .., that Frigg is the same as Sága, and that both the names ''Fensalir'' and ''Sökkvabekkr'' "imply a goddes living in the water and recall the fertility goddess

Nerthus In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with a ceremonial wagon procession. Nerthus is attested by first century AD Roman historian Tacitus in his ethnographic work ''Germania''. In ''Germania'', Tacitus records that a group of Germ ...

."Näsström (1996:88).

Notes

References

* Bellows, Henry Adams (Trans.) (2004). ''The Poetic Edda: The Mythological Poems''. Courier Dover Publications. * Edzardi, Anton (1882). "Fensalir und Vegtamskvida 12, 5ff." in ''Germania'' 27, edited by Franz Pfeiffer, pp. 330–339. Wien: Verlag von Carl Gerold's Sohn. * 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 The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...

. * Grundy, Stephan (1999). "Freyja and Frigg" as collected in Billington, Sandra and Green, Miranda.
The Concept of the Goddess
'.

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

. * Dronke, Ursula (Trans.) (1997). ''The Poetic Edda: Volume II: Mythological Poems''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

. * Lindow, John (2001).
Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs
'.

. * Gildersleeve, L. Basil (ed.) (1883). ''American Journal of Philology''. Vol. IV. New York and London: Macmillan & Co. * Mallet, Paul Henri. Scott, Walter (1847) translated by Thomas Percy.
Northern Antiquities: Or, An Historical Account of the Manners, Customs, Religion and Laws, Maritime Expeditions and Discoveries, Language and Literature of the Ancient Scandinavians
'. H. G. Bohn. * Näsström, Britt-Mari (1996). "Freyja and Frigg - two aspects of the Great Goddess" as presented in ''Shamanism and Northern Ecology: Papers presented at the Regional Conference on Circumpolar and Northern Religion, Helsinki, May 1990''.

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 ...

. * Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''.

Cassell Cassell may refer to: Companies * ''Cassell Military Paperbacks'', an imprint of Orion Publishing Group * ''Cassell's National Library'' * Cassell (publisher) (Cassell Illustrated or Cassell & Co.), a British book publisher now owned by the Orion ...

. * Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. D.S. Brewer {{good article Frigg Bogs, fens and marshes in mythology Locations in Norse mythology Water spirits