Aurvandil

Aurvandill (Old Norse) is a figure in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, the god Thor tosses Aurvandill's toe – which had frozen while the thunder god was carrying him in a basket across the Élivágar rivers – into the sky to form a star called ' ('Aurvandill's toe'). In wider medieval Germanic-speaking cultures, he was known as ' in Old English, ' in Old High German, ' in Lombardic, and possibly as '' (auzandil)'' in Gothic. An Old Danish Latinized version, ''Horwendillus'' (Ørvendil), is also the name given to the father of '' Amlethus'' (Amleth) in Saxo Grammaticus' '' Gesta Danorum''.

Comparative studies of the various myths where the figure is involved have led scholars to reconstruct a Common Germanic mythical figure named ', meaning 'light-beam' or 'ray of light' (from '- 'shiny iquid attached to ' ' lexiblerod'). According to the Old English and Gothic sources, and to a lesser degree the Old Norse text (where a star is mentioned without additional details), this figure seems to have personified the 'rising light' of the morning, possibly the Morning Star (Venus). However, the German and Old Danish evidence remain difficult to interpret in this model.

Name and origin

Etymology

The Old Norse name ' stems from a Proto-Germanic form reconstructed as ', ', or '. It is cognate with Old English ', Old High German ' (≈ '), and Lombardic '. The Gothic word ', which can be read in the ''Gothica Bononiensia'' according to the interpretation of several experts, may be another cognate.

Main interpretation

The original meaning of the Common Germanic name remains obscure. The most semantically plausible explanation is to interpret ' as a compound meaning 'light-beam' or 'ray of light', by deriving the prefix '- from Proto-Germanic ' ('shiny specially of liquids; cf. ON ' 'gold', OE ' 'wave, sea'), and ' from ' ('rod, cane'; cf. Goth. ', ON '). The latter probably stems from the root ' ('to turn, wind'), so that the etymological connotation is that of suppleness or flexibility. Oxford English Dictionary Online,
wand, n.
'

In a wider Germanic context, this theory is encouraged by the Old English association of the idea of 'rising light' with ', whose name has been translated as 'radiance, morning star', or as 'dawn, ray of light'. The Gothic word '' auzandil'', translating the Koine Greek word ''heōsphóros'' ('dawnbringer') from the Septuagint, which in Latin is rendered '' lucifer'' ('light-bringer, morning star'), may provide further evidence to this interpretation.

Alternative theories

Alternatively, the Old Norse prefix ' has also been interpreted as coming from Proto-Germanic ' ('mud, gravel, sediment'; cf. ON ' 'wet clay, mud', OE ' 'earth'), with ' being rendered as 'gravel-beam' or 'swamp-wand'. According to philologist Christopher R. Fee, this may imply the idea a phallic figure related to fertility, the name of his spouse in the Old Norse myth, Gróa, literally meaning 'Growth'.

In less frequent scholarly interpretations, the second element has also been derived by some researchers from ' ('Vandal'; i.e. 'the shining Vandal'), from a stem ' ('beard'), or else compared to a Norse word for ''sword''.

Origin

Commentators since at least the time of Jacob Grimm's ''Deutsche Mythologie'', first published in 1835, have emphasized the great age of the tradition reflected in the mythological material surrounding this name, without being able to fully reconstruct the motifs of a Common Germanic myth. The task is complicated because the mythical stories of Orendel and Horwendillus appear to be unrelated to that of Ēarendel and Aurvandill. However, some scholars, including Georges Dumézil, have attempted to demonstrate that Saxo's Horwendillus and Snorri's Aurvandill are based on the same archetypal myth. Furthermore, the apparent discrepancies may be explained by the fact that derivatives of ' were also used as personal names in the Lombardic and German traditions, as attested by historical figures who are named ' and ' by the 8th century AD. Thus, the '' Orendel'' of the Middle High German myth may have been a different figure sharing the same name.

At any rate, scholars Rudolf Simek and John Lindow contend that the linguistic relation between the Old Norse and Old English names may suggest a Common Germanic origin of the myth despite the absence of Aurvandill from the Poetic Edda. They argue that Aurvandill was probably already connected with a star in the original myth, but that Snorri may have modelled the story of ' ('Auvandill's Toe') on the tale of the stars emerging from Þjazi's eyes while Thor throws them into the sky.

Attestations

Old Norse

The Old Norse ' is mentioned once in Norse mythology, in ''Skáldskaparmál'', a book of Snorri Sturluson's 13th-century ''Prose Edda'', where he is described as the husband of the witch Gróa:

Thor went home to Thrúdvangar, and the hone remained sticking in his head. Then came the wise woman who was called Gróa, wife of Aurvandill the Valiant: she sang her spells over Thor until the hone was loosened. But when Thor knew that, and thought that there was hope that the hone might be removed, he desired to reward Gróa for her leech-craft and make her glad, and told her these things: that he had waded from the north over Icy Stream and had borne Aurvandill in a basket on his back from the north out of Jötunheim. And he added for a token, that one of Aurvandill's toes had stuck out of the basket, and became frozen; wherefore Thor broke it off and cast it up into the heavens, and made thereof the star called Aurvandill's Toe. Thor said that it would not be long ere Aurvandill came home: but Gróa was so rejoiced that she forgot her incantations, and the hone was not loosened, and stands yet in Thor's head. Therefore it is forbidden to cast a hone across the floor, for then the hone is stirred in Thor's head.

This passage seems to be part of a larger story where Aurvandill is abducted by the jǫtnar; the thunder-god Thor confronts one of them ( Hrungnir in Snorri's version) and eventually liberates Aurvandill, but leaves the scene with the weapon of the jǫtunn stuck in his head.

At the end of the story, Aurvandill's frost-bitten toe is made into a new star by Thor. However, it is not clear what celestial object is indicated in this passage. Guesses as to the identity of this star have included Sirius, the planet Venus, or the blue-white star Rigel, which could be viewed as forming the foot of the constellation Orion.

''Gothica Bononiensia''

The oldest attestation of this name may occur in the ''Gothica Bononiensia'', a sermon from Ostrogothic Italy written in the Gothic language not later than the first half of the 6th century, and discovered in 2009. On folio 2 recto, in the context of a quotation from Isaiah 14:12, linguist P. A. Kerkhof suggested to see the word ('' auzandil'') in a difficult-to-read part of the palimpsest. This reading, which has been accepted by various experts such as Carla Falluomini and Roland Schuhmann,Schuhmann, R., "A linguistic analysis of the Codex Bononiensis", in: Auer and De Vaan eds., ''Le palimpseste gotique de Bologne. Études philologiques et linguistiques / The Gothic Palimpsest from Bologna. Philological and Linguistic Studies'' (Lausanne 2016) pp. 55–72, relevant section at p. 56 translates the Koine Greek word ('' heōsphóros'', 'dawnbringer') from the Septuagint, which in Latin is rendered '' lucifer'' ('light-bringer, morning star'):

''... ...''
... how Lucifer did fall from heaven, he who emerges in the morning ...

Old English

The term ' (≈ ', ') appears seven times in the Old English corpus, where it is used in certain contexts to interpret the Latin ' ('rising sun'), ' ('light-bringer'), ' ('dawn') or ' ('radiance'). According to scholar J. E. Cross, textual evidence indicate that it originally meant 'coming or rising light, beginning of light, bringer of light', and that later innovations led to an extended meaning of 'radiance, light'. Philologist Tiffany Beechy writes that "the evidence from the early glossary tradition shows ''earendel'' to be a rare alternative for common words for the dawn/rising sun." According to her, the "Anglo-Saxons appear to have known ' as a quasi-mythological figure who personified a natural phenomenon (sunrise) and an astrological/astronomical object (the morning star)."

''Crist I''

The lines 104–108 of the Old English poem '' Crist I'' (''Christ I'') describe the coming of Ēarendel to the earth:

The impetus of the poem comes from the Latin Advent Antiphon: ' ("O Orient/Rising One, splendour of eternal light and sun of justice: come and illuminate one sitting in darkness and the shadow of death"). Scholars agree that ' was chosen in ''Crist I'' as an equivalent of the Latin ', understood in a religious-poetic context as the 'source of true light', 'the fount of light', and the 'light (which) rises from the Orient'.

Traditionally, Ēarendel in ''Crist I'' is taken to personify either John the Baptist or Christ himself, depicted as the rising sun, the morning star, or the dawn. In the poem, he is described as the "true(st) light of the sun" (') and as the "brightest of angels �� messengers ('). This portrayal suggests the idea of a heavenly or divine radiance sent both physically and metaphorically over the earth for the benefit of mankind. The lines 107b–8 ('), translated as "all spans of time you, of yourself, enlighten always", or as "you constantly enlighten all seasons by your presence", may also imply that Ēarendel exists in the poem as an eternal figure existing outside of time, and as the very force that makes time and its perception possible.

Beechy argues that the expression ' ('O ') could be an Old English poetic stock formula, as it finds "phonetic-associative echoes" in the expressions ' and ' from the Durham Hymnal Gloss.

''Blickling Homilies''

also appears in the '' Blickling Homilies'' (10th century AD), where he is explicitly identified with John the Baptist:

The passage is based on a Latin sermon by the 5th-century Archbishop of Ravenna Petrus Chrysologus: ' ("But since he is about to appear, now let John spring forth, because the birth of Christ follows closely; let the new Lucifer arise, because now the light of the true Sun is breaking forth"). Since the Old English version is close to the original Latin, ' can be clearly identified in the ''Blickling Homilies'' with '' lucifer'', meaning in liturgical language the 'light bearer, the planet Venus as morning star, the sign auguring the birth of Christ'. In this context, ' is to be understood as the morning star, the light whose rising signifies Christ’s birth, and whose appearance comes in the poem before the "gleam of the true Sun, God himself".

Glosses

In the Durham Hymnal Gloss (early 11th century AD), the term ' is used in specific contexts to gloss the Latin ''aurora'' ('dawn; east, orient') instead of the more commonly used equivalent ''dægrima'' ('dawn'). Hymns 15.8 and 30.1 imply that ' appears ''with the dawn'', as the light that "quite suffuses the sky", rather than being the ''dawn itself'' ("the dawn comes up in its course, steps fully forth").

The Épinal Glossary, written in England in the 8th century, associates ' with the Latin ' ('brightness, radiance' specially of heavenly bodies as an alternative to the more frequent equivalent ' (Old English: 'ray of light, gleam'). Two copies of the Épinal Glossary were produced in the late 8th or early 9th century: the Épinal-Erfurt Glossary, which gives the equation ' (≈ '), and the Corpus Glossary, which was redacted from an archetype of the Épinal-Erfurt exemplar.

German

The forms ' (≈ ', '), dating from the 8th century, and ' (≈ '), dating from the 9th–10th century, were used in Old High German as personal names. A Bavarian count named ' is recorded in 843.

The Middle High German epic poem '' Orendel'', written in the late 12th century, presents a fictional story of how the Holy Mantle of Christ arrived in the city of Trier. This narrative was likely inspired by the actual transfer of the Mantle to the main altar of Trier Cathedral in 1196. The poem's style, characterized by its " paratactic organization of episodes and the repetition of poetic formulas", suggests it may be rooted in an older oral tradition.

The eponymous hero of the tale, Orendel, son of King Ougel, sets sail with a formidable fleet to reach the Holy Land and seek the hand of Bride, Queen of Jerusalem. After enduring a shipwreck, Orendel is rescued by a fisherman and eventually retrieves the lost Mantle from the belly of a whale.The coat grants him protection, enabling him to win Bride's hand in marriage. Together, they rule Jerusalem for a time and embark on numerous adventures. In the end, Orendel disposes of the Holy Coat after bringing it to Trier.

The appendix to the '' Strassburger Heldenbuch'' (15th c.) names King Orendel (≈ ') of Trier as the first of the heroes that were ever born.

The name also gave way to various toponyms found in present-day Germany, including ' (in Grabfeld), ' (now part of Zweiflingen), and ' (in Öhringen).

Lombardic

The Lombardic form ' appears as a personal name in the 8th century.

Danish

A Latinized version of the Old Danish name, ''Horwendillus'' (Ørvendil), appears in Saxo Grammaticus' '' Gesta Danorum'' (ca. 1200) as the father of '' Amlethus'' (Amlet):

Now Ørvendil, after controlling the utlandprovince for three years, had devoted himself to piracy and reaped such superlative renown that Koller, the king of Norway, wishing to rival his eminent deeds and widespread reputation, judged it would suit him very well if he could transcend him in warfare and cast a shadow over the brilliance of this world-famed sea-rover. He cruised about, combing various parts of the seas, until he lit upon Ørvendil's fleet. Each of the pirates had gained an island in the midst of the ocean and they had moored their ships on different sides. (...)

Both gave and accepted their word of honour on this point and fell to battle. They were not deterred from assailing each other with their blades by the novelty of their meeting or the springtime charm of that spot, for they took no heed of these things. Ørvendil's emotional fervour made him more eager to set upon his foe than to defend himself; consequently he disregarded the protection of his shield and laid both hands to his sword. This daring had its results. His rain of blows deprived Koller of his shield by cutting it to pieces; finally he carved off the other’s foot and made him fall lifeless. He honoured their agreement by giving him a majestic funeral, constructing an ornate tomb, and providing a ceremony of great magnificence. After this he hounded down and slew Koller's sister Sæla, a warring amazon and accomplished pirate herself and skilled in the trade of fighting.

Three years were passed in gallant military enterprises, in which he marked the richest and choicest of the plunder for Rørik, to bring himself into closer intimacy with the king. On the strength of their friendship Ørvendil wooed and obtained Rørik's daughter Gerutha for his bride, who bore him a son, Amleth.

In view of Saxo's tendency to euhemerise and reinterpret traditional Scandinavian myths, philologist Georges Dumézil has proposed that his story was based on the same archetype as Snorri's Aurvandill. In what could be a literary inversion of the original myth, Horwendillus is portrayed as a warrior who injures and vanquishes his adversary, whereas Aurvandill was taken as a hostage by the jǫtnar and wounded during his deliverance. Dumézil also notes that, although the event does not take a cosmological turn in Saxo's version, Aurvandill's toe was broken off by Thor, while Collerus' (Koller's) entire foot is slashed off by Horwendillus.

In popular culture

The English writer J. R. R. Tolkien discovered the lines 104–105 of Cynewulf's ''Crist'' in 1913. According to him, the "great beauty" of the name Ēarendel, and the myth he seems to be associated with, inspired the character of Eärendil depicted in '' The Silmarillion''. In 1914, Tolkien published a poem originally entitled "The Voyage of Earendel the Evening Star" as an account of Ēarendel's celestial course as the bright Morning-star. In a personal letter from 1967, Tolkien wrote:

When first studying A gloS xonprofessionally (1913) ... I was struck by the great beauty of this word (or name), entirely coherent with the normal style of A-S, but euphonic to a peculiar degree in that pleasing but not 'delectable' language ... it at least seems certain that it belonged to astronomical-myth, and was the name of a star or star-group. Before 1914, I wrote a 'poem' upon Earendel who launched his ship like a bright spark from the havens of the Sun. I adopted him into my mythology in which he became a prime figure as a mariner, and eventually as a herald star, and a sign of hope to men. ''Aiya Earendil Elenion Ancalima'' (II 329) 'hail Earendil brightest of Stars' is derived at long remove from ''Éala Éarendel engla beorhtast''.

Tolkien interpreted Ēarendel as a messenger, probably inspired by his association with the word ('angel, messenger') in both ''Crist I'' (104) and the ''Blickling Homilies'' (21 & 35), and his identification with John the Baptist in the latter text. Tolkien's depiction of Eärendil as a herald also has echoes in the interpretation of the Old English Ēarendel as the Morning-star physically heralding the rising of the sun, which finds a figurative parallel in the ''Blickling Homilies'', where Ēarendel heralds the coming of the "true Sun", Christ. Another pervasive aspect of Tolkien's Eärendil is his depiction as a mariner. Carl F. Hostetter notes that, although "the association of Eärendil with the sea was for Tolkien a deeply personal one", the Danish Horvandillus and the German Orendel are both portrayed as mariners themselves.

In 2022, a group of scientists led by astronomer Brian Welch named star WHL0137-LS "Earendel" from the Old English meaning.

In the 2022 revenge-thriller film '' The Northman'', written and directed by Robert Eggers, Aurvandill is portrayed by Ethan Hawke. In the film Aurvandill is mentioned as the Raven King, who is the father of Amleth, the protagonist of the film, portrayed by the Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård. The film is based primarily on the medieval Scandinavian legend of Amleth, which is the direct inspiration behind the character Hamlet from William Shakespeare's 16th century tragedy of the same name.

See also

* Iubar
* Proto-Germanic folklore
* Lucifer

Notes

References

Citations

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{{Norse mythology

Characters in Norse mythology
Germanic given names
Amleth
Venusian deities
Dawn gods