In Norse mythology, Narfi (

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 ...

: ) is a son of Loki, referred to in a number of sources. According to the ''

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 ...

'' section of Snorri Sturluson's ''

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 t ...

'', he was also called Nari and was killed by his brother

Váli In Norse mythology, Váli (Old Norse: ) is a God and the son of the god Odin and the giantess Rindr. Váli has numerous brothers including Thor, Baldr, and Víðarr. He was born for the sole purpose of avenging Baldr, and does this by killing ...

, who was transformed into a wolf; in a prose passage at the end of the

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 med ...

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 ...

", Narfi became a wolf and his brother Nari was killed.

Textual mentions

In chapter 50 of ''Gylfaginning'', to punish Loki for his crimes, 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, ...

turn his son Váli into a wolf and he dismembers his brother, "Nari or Narfi", whose

entrails The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...

are then used to bind their father. The prose colophon to "Lokasenna" has a summary of the same story, probably derived from Snorri;

Ursula Dronke __NOTOC__ Ursula Miriam Dronke (née Brown, 3 November 1920 – 8 March 2012Heather O'Donoghue"Ursula Dronke obituary: Inspirational teacher of Old Norse literature specialising in the sagas and poetry of medieval Iceland" ''The Guardian'' 25 M ...

(ed. and trans.), ''The Poetic Edda'' Volume II: ''Mythological Poems'', Oxford: Oxford University/Clarendon, 1997, repr. 2001,
p. 371
In this version, there is no mention of a brother named Váli, Nari is the brother who is killed, Narfi transforms into a wolf, and the connection is not explained."Nari and/or Narfi",

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 Lin ...

, ''Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs'', Oxford/New York: Oxford University, 2001, , pp. 236–37
p. 237
The name Narfi has often been changed to Váli to better conform to the ''Prose Edda'' account; for example in

Guðni Jónsson Guðni Jónsson (22 July 1901 – 4 March 1974) was an Icelandic professor of history and editor of Old Norse texts. Life and career Guðni was born at Gamla-Hraun at EyrarbakkiPáll Lýðsson"GUÐNI JÓNSSON" Minningargreinar, ''Morgunblaði ...

's 1954 edition and in Henry Adams Bellows' 1923 English translation. Snorri also names "Nari or Narfi" as the son of Loki and his wife

Sigyn Sigyn (Old Norse: "(woman) friend of victory"Orchard (1997:146).) is a deity from Norse mythology. She is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13t ...

earlier in ''Gylfaginning'', and lists "father of Nari" as a

heiti A heiti (Old Norse ''heiti'' , Modern Icelandic , pl. ''heiti'' "name, appellation, designation, term") is a synonym used in Old Norse poetry in place of the normal word for something. For instance, Old Norse poets might use ''jór'' "steed" ins ...

for Loki in the ''

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, ...

'' section of his work. In addition, Narfi is mentioned in the much earlier "

Ynglingatal ''Ynglingatal'' or ''Ynglinga tal'' (Old Norse: 'Enumeration of the Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the ''Ynglinga saga'', the first saga of Snorri's ''Heimskringla''. Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poet ...

" of

Þjóðólfr of Hvinir Þjóðólfr ór Hvini (anglicized as Thjódólf of Hvinir or Thiodolf; fl. late 9th–early 10th c. AD), was a Norwegian skald, said to have been one of the court-poets of the semi-legendary Norwegian king Harald Fairhair. His name suggests that h ...

, where Hel is referred to by the

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech in the type of circumlocution, a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English ...

''jóðís ulfs ok Narfa'' ("sister of the wolf .e._Fenrir.html" ;"title="Fenrir.html" ;"title=".e. Fenrir">.e. Fenrir">Fenrir.html" ;"title=".e. Fenrir">.e. Fenrirand Narfi"),"Narfi 1",

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 ...

, tr. Angela Hall, ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology'', Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1993, repr. 2000, , p. 228. and in the "Haustlöng", which may be by the same skald. Narfi also occurs as a personal name. For example, a Norwegian bishop and king's counselor who died in 1304 was named Narve. Knut Helle
"Narve"
'' Store norske leksikon''

Interpretations

The picture is confused, making it uncertain whether Nari and Narfi are the same, and how he or they relate to the father of

Nótt In Norse mythology, Nótt (Old Norse: , "night"Orchard (1997:120).) is night personified. In both the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', composed in the 13th century, Nótt is li ...

, the personification of night, who is also sometimes called

Narfi Narfi (Old Norse: ), also Nörfi (O.N.: ), Nari or Nörr (O.N.: ), is a jötunn in Norse mythology, and the father of Nótt, the personified night. Name The Old Norse name ''Nǫrr'' has been related to the Old Saxon ('night'), a name whic ...

. The name has been interpreted as meaning "narrow", but

suggests that the association with Hel and the use of the same name for Nótt's father indicate that Narfi may have "originally eena demon of the dead" and that his name could be related to the

word ''nár'', "corpse", which gave rise to Náströnd and Naglfar.

References

{{Norse paganism topics Jötnar Loki

Textual mentions

Interpretations

See also

References