Fimafeng is one of the servants of

Ægir Ægir (anglicised as Aegir; Old Norse 'sea'), Hlér (Old Norse 'sea'), or Gymir (Old Norse less clearly 'sea, engulfer'), is a jötunn and a personification of the sea in Norse mythology. In the Old Norse record, Ægir hosts the gods in his halls ...

in Norse mythology. In the ''

Lokasenna ''Lokasenna'' (Old Norse: 'The Flyting of Loki', or 'Loki's Verbal Duel') is one of the poems of the '' Poetic Edda''. The poem presents flyting between the gods and Loki. It is written in the ljóðaháttr metre, typical for wisdom verse. ''Lo ...

'', Fimafeng is killed out of jealousy by Loki at a party held by his master, after hearing him being lauded by the people for the banquet he had prepared to the

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, ...

(gods).

Name

The

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 settlemen ...

name ''Fimafeng'' has been translated as 'hurrying service'.

Attestation

In the beginning of ''

'' (Loki's Flyting), Aegir's servants Fimafeng and

Eldir Eldir (Old Norse: , "fire-stoker") is a servant of Ægir in Norse mythology, and Loki's first verbal opponent in the poem '' Lokasenna'' (Loki's Flyting). According to John Lindow, "Eldir fits the character type of the outer guardian, often a herd ...

are praised by the people for their good job at welcoming guests to a feast prepared to the

(gods) and hosted by their master. The áss (god) Loki, jealous of the praise being heaped upon them, suddenly kills Fimafeng, causing the Aesir to expel him from the party. Loki eventually returns to the feast and offers an elaborate series of insults ( flyting) to the Aesir gods and to the other servant, Eldir.

References

Bibliography

* {{Norse-myth-stub Servants in Norse mythology