Myrkviðr

In Germanic mythology, Myrkviðr (Old Norse "dark wood"Simek (2007:224) or "black forest"Gentry (2002:101–102)) is the name of several European forests.

The direct derivatives of the name occur as a place name both in Sweden and Norway. Related forms of the name occur elsewhere in Europe, such as in the Black Forest (''Schwarzwald''), and may thus be a general term for dark and dense forests of ancient Europe.

The name was anglicised by Sir Walter Scott (in '' Waverley'') and William Morris (in ''The House of the Wolfings'') and later popularized by J. R. R. Tolkien as " Mirkwood".

Etymology

The word ''myrkviðr'' is a compound of two words. The first element is ''myrkr'' "dark", which is cognate to, among others, the English adjectives ''mirky'' and '' murky''.Bjorvand and Lindeman (2007:770) The second element is ''viðr'' "wood, forest".Cleasby and Vigfusson (1874:703)

Attestations

The name is attested as a mythical local name of a forest in the ''Poetic Edda'' poem '' Lokasenna'', and the heroic poems '' Atlakviða'', '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and '' Hlöðskviða'', and in prose in '' Fornmanna sögur'', ''Flateyjarbók'', '' Hervarar Saga, Ála flekks saga''.Cleasby and Vigfusson (1874:549)

The localization of Myrkviðr varies by source:
# The Ore Mountains in the writings of Thietmar of Merseburg.
# The forests north of the Ukrainian steppe during the time of the Goths the Huns in the Norse '' Hervarar saga''
# The forest that separates the Huns from the Burgundians
# Kolmården ("the dark forest"), in Sweden, in '' Sögubrot'' and in legends such as that of Helge Hundingsbane
# The forest south of Uppsala in ''Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa'' (the present remnant of this forest is called ''Lunsen'')
# Uncertain locations, such as in the '' Völundarkviða'', where it is probably located elsewhere in Scandinavia ( Weyland is here described as a ''Finnish'' prince, which would make him a Saami prince). Stanza 1 (on the swan maidens):

#

Mythological. In other sources, such as the ''Poetic Edda'', e.g. '' Lokasenna'', the location seems to be between Asgard and Muspelheim, as Muspell's sons ride through it at Ragnarök. Stanza 42:

Theories

J. R. R. Tolkien comments on Myrkviðr in a letter to his eldest grandson:

Regarding the forests, Francis Gentry comments that "in the Norse tradition 'crossing the Black Forest' came to signify penetrating the barriers between one world and another, especially the world of the gods and the world of fire, where Surt lives .."

Modern influence

It was first anglicized as '' Mirkwood'' by William Morris in ''A Tale of the House of the Wolfings'' from 1888, and later by J. R. R. Tolkien in his fiction.

See also

* Járnviðr
* Hercynian Forest, an ancient forest of southern Germany
* Miriquidi

Notes

References

* Bugge, Sophus (1896)

''Helge-digtene i den Ældre Edda''. G. E. C. Gad
* Bjordvand, Harald; Lindeman, Fredrik Otto (2007). ''Våre arveord''. Novus.
*
* Humphrey Carpenter, Carpenter, Humphrey (1981). ''The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien''. London: Allen & Unwin
* Chadwick, Nora K. (1922)

''Anglo-Saxon and Norse poems''. Cambridge: The University press
* Cleasby, Richard; Vigfusson, Gudbrand (1874)

''Icelandic–English Dictionary''. Oxford: Clarendon Press
* Rudolf Simek, Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. D.S. Brewer.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myrkvidr
Locations in Norse mythology
Tyrfing cycle
Mythological forests