|
Fylgja
In Norse mythology, a fylgja (Old Norse: , plural ) is a supernatural being or spirit which accompanies a person in connection to their fate or fortune., Summarized and translated @ They can appear to people in their sleep as dream-women, or appear while awake, often in the disembodied spiritual form of an enemy. Etymology The word means "to accompany". The term ''fylgja'' is typically translated into English as " fetch", a similar being from Irish folklore. The term also has the meaning of " afterbirth, caul", and it has been argued by Gabriel Turville-Petre (cf. ) that the concept of the supernatural ''fylgja'' cannot be completely dissociated from this secondary meaning; in fact, there may well be a connection to the ''hamr'', referring to the skin used by shapeshifters (, cf. '' fjaðrhamr''). Description The ''fylgja'' is a ghost who associates with (or, for a lack of better word, stalks or shadows) a particular individual, and may be characterized as a "guardian s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fetch (folklore)
A fetch is a supernatural double or an apparition of a living person. The sighting of a fetch is regarded as an omen, usually for impending death. Description The fetch is described as an exact, spectral double of a living human, whose appearance is regarded as ominous. A sighting of a fetch is generally taken as a portent of its exemplar's looming death, though John and Michael Banim report that if the double appears in the morning rather than the evening, it is instead a sign of a long life in store. As such, it is similar to the Germanic doppelgänger and to some conceptions of the British wraith. Francis Grose associated the term with Northern England in his 1787 ''Provincial Glossary''. Origins and etymology The etymology of ''fetch'' is obscure and the origin of the term is unknown. It may derive from the verb "fetch"; the compound "fetch-life", evidently referring to a psychopomp who "fetches" the souls of the dying, is attested in Richard Stanyhurst's 1583 translatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamingja
The hamingja was a type of female guardian spirit in Norse mythology. It was believed that she accompanied a person and decided their luck and happiness. Consequently, the name was also used to indicate happiness, and that is what it means in modern Icelandic. When a person died, the hamingja passed to a beloved family member and thus accompanied a family for several generations, continuing to influence their fortunes. It was even possible to lend one's own hamingja to a friend, as happened when Hjalti Skeggiason was about to leave on a perilous voyage and asked Olaf II of Norway to lend him his hamingja. It usually appears during sleep in the form of an animal, but it can also be the spirit of a sleeping person who appears in the form of an animal, as Bödvar Bjarki in the saga of Hrólfr Kraki. In Norse mythology, ''hamingja'' (Old Norse "luck"Orchard (1997:73).) refers to two concepts: * the personification of the good fortune or luck of an individual or family, * the altere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mare (folklore)
A mare (, ; Old Norse, Old High German and Swedish language, Swedish: ; ) is a malicious entity in Germanic folklore, Germanic and Slavic folklore that walks on people's chests while they sleep, bringing on nightmares.Harald Bjorvand, Bjorvand, Harald; and Fredrik Otto Lindeman, 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 language, Dutch: (), and German language, German: ()'. The ''-mar'' in French language, French ('nightmare') is borrowed from the Germanic through Old French . Most scholars trace the word back to the Linguistic reconstruction, reco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dís
In Norse mythology, a dís (Old Norse: , "lady", plural dísir ) is a female deity, ghost, or spirit associated with Fate who can be either benevolent or antagonistic toward mortals. Dísir may act as protective spirits of Norse clans. It is possible that their original function was that of fertility goddesses who were the object of both private and official worship called dísablót,The article ''Diser'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1991). and their veneration may derive from the worship of the spirits of the dead. The dísir, like the valkyries, Norns, and vættir, are always referred collectively in surviving references. The North Germanic dísir and West Germanic Idisi are believed by some scholars to be related due to linguistic and mythological similarities,''Gods and Myths of Northern Europe'' by H. Davidson, Penguin Books, 1990, pp. 62-64, but the direct evidence of Anglo-Saxon and Continental German mythology is limited. The dísir play roles in Norse texts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The North Germanic languages, northernmost extension of Germanic mythology and stemming from Proto-Germanic folklore, Norse mythology consists of tales of various deities, beings, and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after the pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition. The source texts mention numerous gods such as the thunder-god Thor, the Huginn and Muninn, raven-flanked god Odin, the goddess Freyja, and List of Germanic deities, numerous other deities. Most of the surviving mythology centers on the plights of the gods and their interaction with several other beings, such as humanity and the jötnar, beings who may be friends, lovers, foes, or family members of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hallfreðar Saga
''Hallfreðar saga vandræðaskálds'' (, Old Norse pronunciation: ) is one of the sagas of Icelanders. The saga is preserved in several 14th-century manuscripts, including Möðruvallabók and Flateyjarbók, but there are significant differences between the versions. It relates the story of Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld, an Icelandic poet active around the year 1000. The saga has some resemblance to the sagas of other poets, such as '' Kormáks saga'' or '' Gunnlaugs saga'', but in ''Hallfreðar saga'' there is less emphasis on the romantic relationships of the skald. Instead, the saga dwells on the troubled conversion of Hallfreðr from Norse paganism to Christianity, and his relations with King Óláfr Tryggvason Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 9 September 1000) was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken ( Vingulmark, and Rånrike), and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King ... and other Norwegi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goði
Gothi or (plural , fem. ; Old Norse: ) was a position of political and social prominence in the Icelandic Commonwealth. The term originally had a religious significance, referring to a pagan leader responsible for a religious structure and communal feasts, but the title is primarily known as a secular political title from medieval Iceland. Etymology The word derives from , meaning "god".Byock, Jesse L. (1993). "Goði". Entry in ''Medieval Scandinavia, an Encyclopedia'' (Phillip Pulsiano, ed.), 230–231. Garland: NY and London, . It possibly appears in Ulfilas' Gothic language translation of the Bible as for "priest", although the corresponding form of this in Icelandic would have been an unattested . In Scandinavia, there is one surviving attestation in the Proto-Norse form from the Norwegian Nordhuglo runestone (N KJ65),The article ''gotiska'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1992) and in the later Old Norse form from three Danish runestones: DR 190 Helnæs, DR 192 Flemløse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saga Of Hávarður Of Ísafjörður
''The saga of Hávarðr of Ísafjörður'' (Icelandic: ''Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings'') () is one of the sagas of Icelanders. In its present form, the saga was probably written in the early 1300s. The saga discusses many of the social, ethical, and political realities of medieval Icelanders including kinship relationships, reciprocity, and the ability of individuals to change. Synopsis The aging Hávarðr, a once renowned Viking, lives at his farm with his wife Bjargey and his son Óláfr. The local chieftain, Þorbjörn, is considered an unfair and difficult individual. When Óláfr returns lost sheep to Þorbjörn's farm and strikes up an acquaintance with Sigriður, a woman whom Þorbjörn is keeping as a servant against her will, Þorbjörn takes offence and treats Óláfr badly. Óláfr continues to gain popularity in the region through various good deeds -- including battling a Draugr on behalf of his neighbors -- and tensions between him and Þorbjörn rise as a result. Whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 of several notable works on Germanic religion and mythology (including Old Norse religion and mythology), Germanic peoples, Vikings, Old Norse literature, and the culture of Medieval Europe. Biography Since 1995, Simek has been Professor and Chair of Ancient German and Nordic Studies at the University of Bonn. Simek was appointed Professor of Comparative Religion at the University of Tromsø in 1999, and Professor of Old Nordic Studies at the University of Sydney in 2000. Simek has held a number of visiting professorships, having had long research stays at the universities of Reykjavik, Copenhagen, London, Oxford and Sydney. From 2000 to 2003, Simek was Chairman of the International Saga Society (German: Internationalen-Saga-Gesellscha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Orchard
Andrew Philip McDowell Orchard, (born 27 February 1964) is a British academic of Old English, Norse and Celtic literature. He is Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford and a fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford. He was previously Provost of Trinity College, Toronto, from 2007 to 2013. In 2021, claims of sexual harassment and assault by Orchard were publicised, which were alleged to have taken place at universities where he has worked, including the University of Cambridge and the University of Toronto. Biography Orchard was born on 27 February 1964 in North London, England. He was educated at University College School, then an all-boys private school in London. His undergraduate degree was undertaken at both Queens' College, Cambridge, where he read Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic from 1983, and Exeter College, Oxford, where he read English from 1985. He graduated in 1987 Bachelor of Arts (BA), which was later promoted to Master of Arts (MA ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
