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Huld
In Scandinavian mythology, Huld is only referenced by ''völva'' or ''seiðkona'', that is a woman who practiced the seiðr. She is mentioned in the ''Ynglinga saga'', ''Sturlunga saga'' and a late medieval Icelandic tale.The article Huld' in ''Nordisk familjebok'' (1909). In the latter source, she is Odin's mistress and the mother of the demi-goddesses Þorgerðr and Irpa. As her name suggests, Huld may be in origin the same being as the Hulder and the German Holda. Attestations In the ''Ynglinga saga'' it is related that she was first hired to kill the Swedish king Vanlade, by his wife Drífa. She " hag-rode" him to death. Snorri also quoted some lines from ''Ynglingatal'' composed in the 9th century: Later she was hired by Vanlade's grandchildren to kill his son Visbur. It is said in ''Sturlunga saga'' that Sturla Þórðarson entertained King Magnús lagabœtir with a story about Huld in 1263, which he told "better and more cleverly than any of those present had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hulder
A hulder (or huldra) is a seductive forest creature found in Scandinavian folklore. Her name derives from a root meaning "covered" or "secret". In Norwegian folklore, she is known as huldra ("the rchetypalhulder", though folklore presupposes that there is an entire Hulder race and not just a single individual). She is known as the skogsrå "forest spirit" or Tallemaja "pine tree Mary" in Swedish folklore, and in Sámi folklore. Her name suggests that she is originally the same being as the völva divine figure Huld and the German Holda. The word hulder is only used of a female; a "male hulder" is called a ''huldrekall'' and also appears in Norwegian folklore. This being is closely related to other underground dwellers, usually called ''tusser'' (sg., ''tusse''). Though described as beautiful, the huldra is noted for having a distinctive inhuman feature — an animal's hairy legs and tail, (usually a cow's or a fox's), and/or a back resembling a hollowed-out tree — ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ''Grimms' Fairy Tales, Children's and Household Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 24). It is of Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index, Aarne-Thompson type 480. Frau Holle (also known in various regions as Holla, Holda, Perchta, Berchta, Berta, or Bertha) was initially a pre-Christian female legendary figure who survived in popular belief well into the 19th century. The name may be cognate of the Scandinavian creature known as the ''Hulder''. Jacob Grimm made an attempt to establish her as a Germanic paganism, Germanic goddess. Legendary creature Etymology The name is thought to originate from German ''huld'' ("gracious, friendly, sympathetic, grateful" found in ''hold sein'', ''huldigen''), Middle High German language, Middle High German ''hulde'', Old High German language, Old High German ''huldī'' ("friendliness"). Cognate with Danish and Swedish lang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human beings. In later Scandinavian folklore, trolls became beings in their own right, where they live far from human habitation, are not Christianized, and are considered dangerous to human beings. Depending on the source, their appearance varies greatly; trolls may be ugly and slow-witted, or look and behave exactly like human beings, with no particularly grotesque characteristic about them. In Scandinavian folklore, trolls are sometimes associated with particular landmarks (sometimes said to have been formed by a troll having been exposed to sunlight). Trolls are depicted in a variety of media in modern popular culture. Etymology The Old Norse nouns ''troll'' and ''trǫll'' (variously meaning "fiend, demon, werewolf, jötunn") and Middle High ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanlade
Vanlandi or Vanlande (Old Norse: "Man from the Land of the Vanir")McKinnell (2005:70). was, according to Norse mythology, a Swedish king who ruled at Uppsala as part of the House of Yngling. He was the son of Sveigðir, whom he succeeded as king. Vanlandi married a woman named Drífa from ''Finnland'' but later abandoned her. In retaliation, Drífa sought revenge by enlisting a sorceress to curse him. As a result, Vanlandi was hag-ridden to death. He was succeeded by his son, Visbur. Attestations Snorri Sturluson wrote of Vanlandi in his ''Ynglinga saga'' (1225) (note that the translator has rendered ''Finnland'' as Finland): Snorri also quoted some lines from ''Ynglingatal'' composed in the 9th century: The ''Historia Norwegiæ'' presents a Latin summary of ''Ynglingatal'', older than Snorri's quotation: The even earlier source ''Íslendingabók'' cites the line of descent in ''Ynglingatal'' and also gives Vanlandi as the successor of Svegðir and the predecessor o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Visbur
Visbur or Wisbur (Old Norse "Certain/Undoubted Son"McKinnell (2005:70).) was a legendary Swedish king of the House of Ynglings and the son of Vanlandi. He was burned to death inside his hall by the arson of two of his own sons in revenge for rejecting their mother and denying them their heritage. He was succeeded by his son Dómaldi. Attestations Snorri Sturluson wrote of Visbur in his ''Ynglinga saga'' (1225): Snorri included a piece from ''Ynglingatal'' (9th century) in his account in the ''Heimskringla'': The ''Historia Norwegiæ'' presents a Latin summary of ''Ynglingatal'', older than Snorri's quotation: The even earlier source ''Íslendingabók'' cites the line of descent in ''Ynglingatal'' and also gives Visburr as the successor of Vanlandi and the predecessor of Dómaldr: ''vi Vanlandi. vii Visburr. viii Dómaldr''. Notes References *McKinnell, John (2005). ''Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend''. DS Brewer. Sources *Ynglingatal *Ynglinga saga (par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mara (folklore)
A mare (, ; Old Norse, Old High German and Swedish: ; ) is a malicious entity in Germanic and Slavic folklore that walks on people's chests while they sleep, bringing on nightmares. Bjorvand, Harald; and Lindeman, Fredrik Otto edd. (2000). ''Våre arveord: Etymologisk ordbok'', Etymology The word ''mare'' comes (through Middle English ) from the Old English feminine noun (which had numerous variant forms, including , , and ). Likewise are the forms in Old Norse/Icelandic as well as the Old High German (glossed in Latin as ""), while the Middle High German forms are . These in turn come from Proto-Germanic . from which are derived the modern forms: ; ; ; ; / , Dutch: (), and German: ()'. The ''-mar'' in French ('nightmare') is borrowed from the Germanic through Old French . Most scholars trace the word back to the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root">Linguistic reconstruction">reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root , associated with crushing, pressing and op ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ynglinga Saga
''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' sagas, Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelanders, Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into English and published in 1844 by Samuel Laing (travel writer), Samuel Laing. Snorri Sturluson based his work on an earlier ''Ynglingatal'' which is attributed to the Norwegian 9th-century skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir, and which also appears in ''Historia Norvegiæ, Historia Norwegiae''. It tells the most ancient part of the story of the House of Ynglings (''Scylfings'' in ''Beowulf''). Snorri described the descent of the kings of Norway from this List of Swedish monarchs, royal house of Sweden. ''Ynglinga saga'' is the first part of Snorri's history of the ancient Norse kings, the ''Heimskringla.'' Interwoven in this narrative are references to important historical events. The saga deals with the arrival of the Norse gods to Scandinavia and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sturla Þórðarson
Sturla Þórðarson ( ; ; 29 July 1214–30 July 1284) was an Icelandic chieftain and writer of sagas and contemporary history during the 13th century. Much academic debate is dedicated to evaluating his life, bias as an historian of medieval Iceland and Norway. Biography The life of Sturla Þórðarson was chronicled in the Sturlunga saga. Sturla was the son of Icelandic chieftain Þórður Sturluson and his mistress Þóra, and grandson of Sturla Þórðarson the elder. He was raised by his grandmother, Guðný Böðvarsdóttir. He was a nephew and pupil of the famous saga-writer Snorri Sturluson. His brother was Icelandic skald and scholar Ólafur Þórðarson hvítaskáld. He fought alongside Þórður kakali Sighvatsson during the Age of the Sturlungs. Sturla was appointed law speaker over all of Iceland for a brief period after the dissolution of the Icelandic Commonwealth, and wrote the law book '' Járnsíða.'' Like his uncle, Snorri, and his brother, Óláfr, S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Völva
In Germanic paganism, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future events and perform sorcery. They are also referred to with many other names meaning "prophetess", "staff bearer" and "sorceress", and they are frequently called ''witches'' both in early sources and in modern scholarship. In Norse mythology the seeress is usually referred to as ''völva'' or ''vala''. Seeresses were an expression of the pre-Christian shamanic traditions of Europe, and they held an authoritative position in Germanic society. Mentions of Germanic seeresses occur as early as the Roman era, when, for example, they at times led armed resistance against Roman rule and acted as envoys to Rome. After the Roman Era, seeresses occur in records among the North Germanic people, where they form a reoccurring motif in Norse mythology. Both the classical and the Norse accounts imply that they used wands, and describe them as sitting on raised platforms during séances. Ancient Roman and Gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standing Stone
A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright rock (geology), stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found individually as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Menhirs' size can vary considerably, but they often taper toward the top. Menhirs are found across Europe, Africa, and Asia, with a concentration in Western Europe, notably in Ireland, Great Britain, and Brittany. Theories concerning their purpose remain speculative, with hypotheses ranging from Ancient Celtic religion, druidic rituals to territorial markers or elements of an ideological system. Some menhirs feature Engraving, engravings, including anthropomorphic figures and symbols, and are often associated with ancient religious ceremonies and Chamber tomb, burial chambers. Etymology The word ''menhir'' was adopted from F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 the ''Prose Edda'', which is a major source for what is today known about Norse mythology and alliterative verse, and , a history of the Norsemen, Norse kings that begins with legendary material in ''Ynglinga saga'' and moves through to early medieval History of Scandinavia, Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of ''Egil's Saga''. He was assassinated in 1241 by men claiming to be agents of the King of Norway. Biography Early life Snorri Sturluson was born in (commonly transliterated as Hvamm or Hvammr) as a member of the wealthy and powerful Sturlungar family clan, Sturlungar clan of the Icelandic Commonwealth, in AD 1179. His parents were Sturla Þórðarson the Elder o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 for Harald Fairhair (r. 872–930), is traditionally credited with its authorship. Snorri quotes frequently from this poem and cites it as one of the sources of the saga. The composition of the poem is dated to the 9th century. The poem lists the partly mythical and partly historical ancient Swedish kings; twenty-seven of whom are mentioned in the poem, along with details about their deaths and burial places. The title ''Ynglingatal'' alludes to Yngling, who had the name Yngve-Frey—another List of names of Freyr, name for Frey, the god who was worshipped in Sweden. Yngling allegedly descended from Frey's son Fjölnir. Snorri portrayed Harald Fairhair as a descendant of the Ynglings. The poem was written on behalf of Ragnvald the Mountain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
